PayPal to acquire PayTech venture iZettle

PayPal is set to buy Swedish payments provider, iZettle, for $2.2 billion in an all-cash deal.

This is its biggest ever transaction and comes on the heels of iZettle filing for an IPO earlier this month. Co-founder and CEO Jacob de Geer will stay on to lead the company and other members of the executive team will remain onboard as the venture positions itself as a “centre of excellence” for in-store and offline payments in Europe, PayPal said.

Founded in 2010, iZettle made its name with credit and debit card readers that could be plugged into smartphones and tablets. It has more recently expanded with an e-commerce platform which tracks the likes of sales and inventory. 

In an open letter, de Geer says: “As you might have heard, we were preparing the company for a potential IPO. But plans sometimes change. Late in the IPO process, PayPal got in touch and showed a serious interest in iZettle. The relationship with PayPal is not a new one, in fact we’ve talked about different ways of working together for years. But this time it very quickly turned into a detailed discussion on how we could benefit from joining forces. And we both realised the great opportunity in doing just that.”

“Teaming up with another company is no small thing. But during our discussions with PayPal’s President and CEO Dan Schulman and his team, it has become obvious that we share the same belief in the power of small businesses. They create diversity, choice and opportunity in society, but they’re still underserved by the incumbents. Small businesses deserve something better.”

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