Widespread media reports, including by the national broadcaster the ABC this morning, report that Square is planning to takeover Afterpay in a deal that would be the biggest takeover in Australian sharemarket history.  The deal is expected to close in the first three months of next year.

Square is run by Twitter co-founder and American billionaire technology entrepreneur and philanthropidst Jack Dorsey.

Data and global analytics company GlobalData reports that Square’s announcement to acquire Afterpay is the latest development in the BuyNowPayLater (BNPL) space, as it looks to expand into the growing market.

Ravi Sharma, Lead Banking and Payments Analyst at GlobalData said: “Afterpay has presence across four markets-New Zealand, the US, Canada and the UK (where it operates under the Clearpay brand). Afterpay, a major BNPL operator in Australia, reported global sales of US$10.1bn in the first half of fiscal year ended 31 December 2020, a year-on-year 112% growth. It added nearly 23,000 new customers daily to its platform in the same period.

“The rapidly growing e-commerce market has further accelerated the demand for BNPL. According to GlobalData, Australia’s e-commerce market is forecasted to grow from A$60.6bn (US$46.7bn) in 2021 to A$91.5bn (US$70.5bn) in 2025.

“GlobalData’s 2021 Banking and Payments Survey indicates that Afterpay accounts for 7.7% share of the total Australian e-commerce market, compared to 5.5% in 2020,” Sharma notes.