Swedish payments company iZettle AB is said to be open to a sale as an alternative to preparing for an initial public offering, in a so-called dual-track process, according to a person familiar with the company's plans.
The company, which provides terminals that allow small businesses to easily take card payments and also offers financial services, announced Wednesday that it has raised 40 million euros ($47 million) to fund growth. The round was led by existing investor Dawn and the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund.
The new funding round follows just three months after iZettle announced it was getting 30 million euros ($36 million) in debt funding from the European Investment Bank to create new products. In January, iZettle received 60 million euros, including 45 million in debt financing from Chicago-based Victory Park Capital, where it was valued around $500 million.A spokeswoman for iZettle declined to comment on the company’s valuation.
iZettle began by selling white, rectangular credit card-readers that plug into iPhones or iPads, allowing small business owners such as food truck vendors and small retailer to quickly process transactions. Competing with the likes of Square Inc., in the U.K., it has since expanded to small business lending service and a wider range of payments software.
While iZettle’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Jacob de Geer has previously flagged the company will target an IPO, payments companies have become increasingly attractive to private equity. Blackstone Group LP and CVC Capital Partners agreed to buy Paysafe Group Plc, which provides technology that enables digital wallets as well as online and mobile payments, for about 3 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) in August. One month later, U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC agreed to buy Nets A/S for about 33 billion kroner ($5.3 billion).
