With the acquisitions, the Australian company extends its reach to Europe and the Middle East
Arnold Bloch Leibler (ABL) has guided ASX-listed tech company Zip Co Limited on two buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) acquisitions it has made to extend its international reach.
According to a 24 May ASX announcement, Zip Co agreed to snap up the remaining shares of European company Twisto Payments and of UAE’s Spotii Holdings, which enables Zip Co to expand to Europe and the Middle East. The enterprise value of the transactions comes in at about $180m.
The acquisitions were made to capitalise on the rapid growth of the global BNPL market and “enable Zip to respond to increased demand from merchants across multiple markets,” ABL said.
“The acquisition of Twisto shows our commitment to global growth and follows our ‘Coalition of Founders’ model, where we back strong founders with a shared vision and deep cultural alignment in our quest for global payments coverage,” Zip CEO Larry Diamond said.
He cited the significant uptick in the Middle East’s e-commerce market as the rationale behind Zip Co’s purchase of Spotii, saying that it marked “an important step in Zip’s global expansion and international strategy.”
ABL lead partner Gavin Hammerschlag described the transactions as “strategically important international acquisitions.”
“Zip is one of Australia’s leading tech companies, that is determined to deploy its expertise across the globe. The Zip team are market leaders, and we look forward to supporting their continued success,” he said.
Hammerschlag received support from lawyers Anna Sandiford and Max Grunwald.
Last year, ABL advised Zip Co on its $403m acquisition of New York BNPL business Quadpay Inc, which facilitated Zip Co’s expansion to the US. Hammerschlag was also part of the firm’s team on that deal.
