Square takes over Afterpay in $29 billion deal

Square, a digital payments platform of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has agreed to buy Australian firm Afterpay in $29 billion deal on Monday, which is said to be Australia’s biggest-ever buyout.

Square agreement with Afterpay, Australia’s buy now, pay later firm, will create an instalments payment giant as the industry sees significant growth.

“Square and Afterpay have a shared purpose. We built our business to make the financial system more fair, accessible, and inclusive, and Afterpay has built a trusted brand aligned with those principles,” Square co-founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey, quoted as saying

In a statement Australian firm said its board has unanimously recommended the deal to its shareholders, who are expected to own around 18.5 per cent of the new company.

Founded in 2014 by Australians Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen, Afterpay has more than 16 million customers and is used by 100 million businesses around the world.

The deal will help support Afterpay to expand more quickly in America. Its latest annual figures showed sales in the US nearly tripled for the period to $8.15 billion.

Square recently announced its quarter earnings in which gross profit rose 91 per cent to $1.14 billion against the last year figures.