Acquisition of US-based Buy Now, Pay Later provider required additional specialist advice
Arnold Bloch Leibler has acted for homegrown fintech Zip Co on its acquisition of US-based, ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) provider Sezzle.
The $491m transaction will bring Zip and Sezzle together in what Zip CEO Larry Diamond called a ‘transformational transaction.’ It is expected to deliver immediate scale and will further Zip’s aggressive global expansion plans, particularly in the US market.
The ABL team was led by corporate and M&A partners, Jeremy Leibler and Gavin Hammerschlag. Senior associate Vidushee Deora, lawyer Max Grunwald, and law graduates Kaitlin Bakken and Natalie Ryan supported.
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The transaction required additional specialist advice from tax partner Jonathan Ortner, tax lawyer George Bassil, competition partner Zaven Mardirossian, and competition senior associate Gabriel Sakkal.
US law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom managed the US law aspects of the transaction and worked alongside ABL to complete the cross-border deal. Skadden's team included M&A partners Jeffrey Brill and Thomas Greenberg, counsel Matthew Nemeroff, and associates Jonathan Berger, Jaclyn Castelar, Jerome Newton and Parker Kolodka; tax partner Chase Wink; antitrust/competition partner Kenneth Schwartz and associate Michael Singer; executive compensation and benefits partner Erica Schohn; capital markets partners Adrian Deitz and Michael Zeidel, and counsel Diana Berisha; and intellectual property and technology counsel Jessica Cohen.
“We’re really pleased to have worked with Zip’s management team on another strategically important transaction. Having acted for Zip on its journey from start-up to one of the world’s top five BNPL providers, it’s exciting to see their global expansion plans continue to unfold,” Hammerschlag said.
ABL boasts a long-standing relationship with Zip, having advised the fintech on numerous acquisitions in the US, India, and European markets. Most recently, it advised on Zip’s equity capital raising of up to $198.7m, involving a $148.7m fully underwritten placement to help strengthen Zip’s balance sheet and capitalise on the acquisition.