PayPal acquired Sweden's iZettle.com for $2.2 billion

Tinuku - PayPal Holdings Inc. said on Thursday it had agreed to acquire Sweden's iZettle.com for US$2.2 billion. Startup headquartered in Stockholm is one of the most renowned financial technology companies in Europe where the deal will allow PayPal to expand the market globally and will mark the largest acquisitions ever made by a company based in San Jose, California.

iZettle offers a mini credit card device for small businesses that can turn smartphones and tablets into payment registers. The company has been present in 11 countries and offers other services for small businesses including loans. iZettle also has plans to go public.

The deal will also help PayPal provide a more comprehensive suite of services to its merchants, while PayPal that operates in the next 200 countries allows iZettle to accelerate its international expansion including the US. Similar services and major competitors in the US are Square Inc founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Since separating from eBay in 2015, PayPal has reshaped itself from most processing transactions for parent companies online to offer digital payment service packages worldwide. Other services range from loans to small businesses, facilitating transfers between merchants and customers, and family members.

Under the leadership of CEO Dan Schulman, the company has grown aggressively through acquisitions and partnerships with major banks and technology companies including Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc.