Payment providers Klarna, coming from Sweden, and SOFORT AG, coming from Germany, today announced that they will join forces; Klarna is acquiring SOFORT from its majority shareholder Reimann Investors.
Both companies will continue to offer their products side by side and operate on a stand-alone basis. The transaction, which is rumored to be worth around $150 million, is subject to approval by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.
Klarna is a leading online payment provider in Nordics, and SOFORT is a leading player in Germany and Austria; together they will offer their solutions in 14 European countries. The combined group will have 25 million users and partnerships with more than 50% of all German online merchants. In total, the group will work together with 43,000 online merchants.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO and co-founder of Klarna, said: “We are delighted to be given the opportunity to work together with the exceptional team at SOFORT. Together we have an incredible opportunity to provide the most trusted payment solution to our merchants and make it simpler and safer for consumers to shop online.”
Dr. Gerrit Seidel, CEO of SOFORT, said: “SOFORT and Klarna supplement each other in our service offerings as well as in our growth ambitions. Together we are providing online merchants the opportunity to offer both popular payment methods out of one hand in Germany and to develop further product innovations.”
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Why it’s hot: Klarna is positioning itself as a key player in the $40 billion global payments market.