Left to right: Jacob de Geer, CEO and Co-Founder of iZettle, Dan Schulman, President and CEO of PayPal, and Bill Ready, EVP, Chief Operating Officer of PayPal. Photo courtesy of PayPal

San Jose, Calif., USA and Stockholm, Sweden - May 17, 2018

• Expands offering in 12 markets, adding in-store capabilities in 11 markets

• Provides scalable platform for rapid geographic expansion

• Advances PayPal’s mission to help small businesses grow and thrive in the global digital economy

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) announced today that it has agreed to acquire iZettle, the leading small business commerce platform in Europe and Latin America, for $2.2 billion USD.

Photo courtesy of PayPal

The acquisition of iZettle significantly expands PayPal’s in-store presence, strengthening PayPal’s platform to help millions of small businesses around the world grow and thrive in an omnichannel retail environment.

Photo courtesy of PayPal

“Small businesses are the engine of the global economy and we are continuing to expand our platform to help them compete and win online, in-store and via mobile,” said PayPal President and CEO Dan Schulman.
“iZettle and PayPal are a strategic fit, with a shared mission, values and culture - and complementary product offerings and geographies. In today's digital world, consumers want to be able to buy when, where and how they want. With nearly half a million merchants on their platform, Jacob de Geer and his team add best-in-class capabilities and talent that will expand PayPal’s market opportunity to be a global one-stop solution for omnichannel commerce.”

Photo courtesy of iZettle

This combination brings together iZettle’s in-store expertise, recognized brand and digital marketing strength with PayPal’s global scale, mobile and online payments leadership, and trusted brand reputation.

Upon closing, PayPal gains in-store capabilities in the following 11 markets:
Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

PayPal also gains near-term in-store expansion opportunities into other existing PayPal markets, and acceleration of omnichannel commerce solutions in Australia, U.K. and U.S.

Jacob de Geer, CEO and Co-Founder of iZettle. Photo courtesy of iZettle

“Combining our assets and expertise with a global industry leader like PayPal allows us to deliver even more value to small businesses to help them succeed in a world of giants,” said iZettle CEO Jacob de Geer.
“The combination of iZettle and PayPal will provide tremendous benefits to our merchants who will have access to an even wider range of tools to help them get paid, sell smarter and grow.”

Photo courtesy of PayPal

iZettle expects to generate gross revenues of approximately $165 million USD in 2018, with approximately $6 billion USD of total payment volume (TPV) expected to be processed on its platform.

The company has grown its revenues at a CAGR of approximately 60% from 2015 to 2017.

iZettle expects to reach EBITDA profitability by 2020 on a standalone basis.

Once the acquisition closes, Jacob de Geer will continue to lead iZettle, which will operate as an integral part of PayPal’s merchant services offering, reporting to PayPal’s Chief Operating Officer Bill Ready.

iZettle’s experienced management team, who have a demonstrated track record of scaling at pace, will continue running the business, ensuring continuity for customers, employees and partners.

Upon closing, iZettle will become the European center of excellence for PayPal’s in-store product and services offerings.

Photo courtesy of PayPal

The transaction is expected to be approximately $0.01 dilutive to PayPal’s previously communicated full year 2018 non-GAAP EPS.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.

The completion of this transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

The two companies  will continue to operate independently until close.

A slide presentation with an overview of the transaction can be accessed through the company’s Investor Relations website at investor.paypal-corp.com.

https://investor.paypal-corp.com/  

PayPal will host an Investor Day on May 24, 2018 in San Francisco, Calif. and management will provide additional details related to the transaction.

A live webcast of the event will be available at investor.paypal-corp.com starting at 8:30 a.m. PDT.

https://investor.paypal-corp.com/  

Evercore is acting as sole financial adviser to PayPal, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Roschier are acting as its legal advisers with regard to the transaction.

J.P. Morgan Securities plc is acting as sole financial adviser to iZettle, while Gernandt & Danielsson is acting as its legal adviser.


About PayPal

Fueled by a fundamental belief that having access to financial services creates opportunity, PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) is committed to democratizing financial services and empowering people and businesses to join and thrive in the global economy.

Our open digital payments platform gives PayPal's 237 million active account holders the confidence to connect and transact in new and powerful ways, whether they are online, on a mobile device, in an app, or in person.

Through a combination of technological innovation and strategic partnerships, PayPal creates better ways to manage and move money, and offers choice and flexibility when sending payments, paying or getting paid.

Available in more than 200 markets around the world, the PayPal platform, including Braintree, Venmo and Xoom, enables consumers and merchants to receive money in more than 100 currencies, withdraw funds in 56 currencies and hold balances in their PayPal accounts in 25 currencies.

For more information on PayPal, visit https://www.paypal.com/about  

or follow us at @PayPalNews.

For PayPal Holdings, Inc. financial information,

visit https://investor.paypal-corp.com  


About iZettle

iZettle is on a mission to help small businesses succeed in a world of giants.

Founded in Stockholm in 2010, the financial technology company revolutionized mobile payments with the world’s first mini chip card reader and software for mobile devices.

Today iZettle’s commerce platform for small businesses in Europe and Latin America provides tools to get paid, sell smarter and grow your business.

iZettle’s current largest shareholders are Zouk Capital, Index Ventures and 83North.



PayPal Agrees to Acquire iZettle

San Jose, California, USA - May 17, 2018

By Dan Schulman
President and CEO, PayPal


I’m pleased to announce that today we signed an agreement to acquire iZettle, the leading small business commerce platform in Europe and Latin America.

This is the largest acquisition in our company’s history and significantly expands our in-store presence around the world, strengthening our platform to help millions of small businesses around the world grow and thrive in an omnichannel retail environment.

Photo courtesy of PayPal

Small businesses are the engine of the global economy and they are increasingly demanding a partner that can provide a one-stop solution  to help them compete and  win online, in-store and via mobile.

The combination of PayPal and iZettle brings together iZettle’s in-store expertise, digital marketing strength and mobile point-of-sale technology with PayPal’s global scale, online and mobile payments leadership and trusted brand reputation to support merchants and consumers in more ways.

Based in Stockholm, iZettle was founded in 2010 by Jacob de Geer and Magnus Nilsson with a mission to help small businesses “succeed in a world of giants” by leveling the playing field against bigger retailers.

iZettle revolutionized mobile payments with the world’s first mini chip card reader and software for mobile devices.

Today, the company’s commerce solutions empower nearly half a million merchants across 12 countries and two continents to get paid, sell smarter and grow their businesses.

Jacob and his team bring best-in-class capabilities and talent that will expand our tremendous market opportunity.

Upon closing, we will gain in-store capabilities in 11 markets, near-term in-store expansion opportunities into other existing PayPal markets, and the acceleration of omnichannel commerce solutions in Australia, U.K. and U.S.

Photo courtesy of PayPal

We expect to close the deal in the third quarter of 2018, at which time we will begin our integration efforts.

Once the acquisition closes, Jacob de Geer will continue to lead iZettle, reporting to PayPal COO Bill Ready.

iZettle and PayPal are a strong strategic fit, with a shared mission, values and culture - and complementary product offerings and geographies.

Together, we will help small businesses around the world grow and thrive in the global digital economy.


Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal



Dan Schulman

As President and CEO Dan Schulman is focused on transforming financial services to make life easier for billions of people around the world.

Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal Photo courtesy of PayPal

With his deep experience in payments and mobile technology, Dan is leading PayPal to reimagine how people move and manage money, and how merchants and consumers interact and transact.

Dan is an avid mixed martial arts practitioner.

He is the recipient of the 2017 Brennan legacy award, established to honor the Supreme Court justice and his career-long commitment to social justice and “common human dignity”.

The Council for Economic Education named Dan as its 2017 Visionary for promoting economic and financial literacy to create a better informed society.

He has been recognized as one of the top 10 CEOs in the world by Fortune, named one of the top 100 most creative people by Fast Company, and included on the 2017 Recode 100 list of people making the biggest impact on business and technology.

He has also been recognized as one of the top 10 most innovative CEOs in banking.

Dan previously served as Group President of Enterprise Growth at American Express where he led their global strategy to expand the company’s alternative mobile and online payment services.

Prior to joining American Express, Dan was President of the Prepaid Group at Sprint Nextel Corporation following its acquisition of Virgin Mobile USA, Inc., where he led the company as its founding CEO for eight years.

Earlier in his career, Dan was President and CEO of Priceline Group, Inc., where he led the company through a period of rapid growth and expansion.

He also spent 18 years at AT&T, where he held a series of positions, including President of the Consumer Markets Division.

Dan earned a Bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and a Master of Business from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

Dan is a board member of Autism Speaks.

He also serves on the boards of Flextronics, International Ltd. and Symantec Corporation, where he is the Non-Executive Chairman of the Board.

He also serves on the World Economic Forum’s Future of the Global Financial System taskforce.


Source: PayPal

https://www.paypal.com