The final regulatory hurdle of Block’s acquisition of Afterpay has been cleared, with the Bank of Spain approving the transaction.
The Australian buy-now-pay-later company said the deal will be implemented on February 1. Its shareholders had, in December, overwhelmingly voted in support of the deal, with 99.79% of the proxy votes cast in favour. Block, formerly known as Square, investors had approved the deal in early November.
The Australian payment company, which was valued at about US$29 billion when the takeover was announced in August, will have its ASX-listed shares suspended from trade at the close on January 19.
Block wants to use Afterpay, which charges merchants in exchange for allowing consumers to pay for goods and services in four interest-free instalments, to tie its Cash App and seller ecosystems more closely together.
Afterpay Chair Elana Rubin said: “Afterpay, its leadership and team have shown that ground-breaking fintech innovation built in Australia can reach global proportions. The team is incredibly excited at the prospect of beginning an extraordinary next phase with Block, Inc. and look forward to implementation on 1 February 2022.
“On behalf of the Board and management, thank you to our shareholders, customers, merchants, broader stakeholders and regulators, for recognising the potential of this incredible company and for sharing in the vision of fairness and financial freedom for all.”
The Jack Dorsey owned payments company announced the USD29 billion, all-stock deal, at roughly 30% premium to Afterpay’s price in August last year. The acquisition aimed to enable the companies to better deliver financial products and services that expand access to more consumers and drive incremental revenue for merchants of all sizes.
Dorsey recently stepped down as CEO of Twitter and is expected to devote his attention more to Block.
