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Klarna Receives Investment from Brightfolk

Klarna Receives Investment from Brightfolk

Online payments company Klarna announced a major new strategic investor this week. Brightfolk has reportedly become a qualified owner of Klarna, meaning it has purchased at least 10% of the company. Brightfolk is held by Anders Holch Povlsen, owner of European fashion company, BESTSELLER. Povlsen will acquire shares from existing shareholders General Atlantic, DST Global and Niklas Adalberth, all of whom will retain a stake in Klarna.

Specific terms of the deal were undisclosed, but based on Klarna’s most recent valuation of $2.25 billion we can extrapolate that Brightfolk contributed $225 million or more in equity funds. TechCrunch reported that today’s deal is an up round, meaning Klarna is now valued at more than $2.25 billion.

Writing in the press release announcing the investment, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna co-founder and CEO said, “Klarna has successfully been partnering with BESTSELLER for a number of years. This has given him a firsthand insight into the strengths of our offerings and therefore a unique ability to strategically support the future development of the company. I am delighted to welcome such a strong partner into Klarna.”

Klarna helps 70,000 merchants offer payment solutions to 60+ million users in Europe and North America. Founded in 2005 in Stockholm, Klarna is active in 18 countries. The company is now headquartered in Ohio with 1,500 employees working in offices in Columbus, Ohio; San Francisco; New York; Tel Aviv; and throughout Europe.

Klarna demonstrated its online payment-processing service at FinovateSpring 2012. In 2016, the company experienced a 50% increase in transaction volumes YOY. Also in 2016, 12 million users tried Klarna’s services for the first time. Earlier this year, the company acquired online payment provider BillPay from Wonga for $75 million.