Mergermarket Analysis: Australia’s buy now, pay later sector to see further scale-driven M&A

This is an overview of the buy now, pay later (BNPL) sector in Australia, which will continue to undergo consolidation, according to advisors and dealmakers polled by Mergermarket journalist Christel Thunell. This overview features insights on the sector, investment rationale, recent deals and a selection of companies to watch.

There is no stopping buy now, pay later (BNPL) solutions, as consumers continue to ditch credit cards in favour of interest-free instalment payments, with COVID-19 adding fuel to the fire. Australia’s BNPL sector will continue to see M&A activity driven by providers seeking scale in order to attract more and bigger merchants, dealmakers interviewed by Mergermarket said.

Homegrown giants Afterpay [ASX:APT] and Zip Co [ASX:Z1P] have been active in M&A internationally – Afterpay acquired UK-based ClearPay in 2018 and more recently Zip acquired New York-based QuadPay earlier this year.

“Equally, we could see overseas players look at Australia, which has more of its fair share of BNPL companies.” Ryan Whitelegg, Henslow Managing Director Henslow

Published in Mergermarket read full article here