Afterpay continues fintech push in new $500 million partnership
The payments giant has announced a new deal with Touchcorp.
Interest-free payments provider Afterpay has announced it will merge with payments systems firm Touchcorp to form a new public company.
The announcement was made on Thursday at the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and is reportedly worth $500 million.
"The proposed merger would represent a unique opportunity to combine the outstanding technology set from Touchcorp with the strong sales focus and brand recognition of Afterpay to develop stronger propositions to customers and investors," said Touchcorp chair Mike Jeffries.
While Touchcorp's stock has had a more volatile year compared to Afterpay's strong holding (Touchcorp's stock dropped to $1.05 from $2.50 a year ago), Afterpay's executive chairman Anthony Eisen is excited by the deal.
"The growth of the Afterpay opportunity continues to exceed our expectations and is greater than we originally anticipated,” he told The Australian.
“This proposed strategic merger would enable NewCo to be fully integrated from a technology perspective and boost the earnings potential of each component company, with access to new industries and benefits of scale.
“I am excited by the prospect of what these two companies can achieve together as a potentially merged group.”
The interest-free finance space has been exploding in Australia and new partnerships may be pushing the market players forward. This week, Openpay announced a new partnership with RainCheck that will allow the payment providers to work towards closing the gap between online and offline sales.
