
VC-backed Klarna acquires Sofort
Online payment provider Klarna, backed by DST and General Atlantic among other VCs, has acquired Sofort for $150m.
Klarna has acquired Sofort from its majority shareholder Reimann Investors, which have re-invested in the group. Following the merger the two entities will continue operating on a stand-alone basis, offering their products side by side.
The two companies will offer online payment methods in Germany and will look to develop further products.
Previous investment
Klarna received $2.2m in series-A funding from Swedish investment company Öresund in 2007. Sequoia Capital injected $9m and took a stake in the business in April 2010. In December 2011 Klarna raised a series-C round of €150m from Yuri Milner's DST and General Atlantic.
Investment Öresund and Creades sold their shares in Klarna Holding for SEK 172m in August 2013.
Company
Sofort is an online payment provider in Germany and Austria. With 25 million users, the newly established entity will operate in 14 countries and partner with 50% of German online merchants. The combined group will co-operate with 43,000 online merchants in total.
People
Sebastian Siemiatkowski is the CEO and co-founder of Klarna. Gerrit Seidel is the CEO of Sofort. Michael Riemenschneider represents Reimann Investors and is chairman of the supervisory board of Sofort.
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