Payments

Klarna gets another jump on holiday shopping, acquires PriceRunner

Buy now, pay later titan Klarna announced Tuesday it had closed on a deal to acquire the price comparison platform PriceRunner in a bid to bring enhanced app features to Klarna’s global customers.

Financial terms were not disclosed in the press release; however, MarketWatch reported that Swedish investment firm Creades disclosed it has sold its entire 12% holding in PriceRunner to Klarna in a deal valued at 1.06 billion Swedish kronor ($124 million).

According to the publication, Creades bought the stake in PriceRunner earlier this year for SEK370 million ($43 million). The company said it has agreed to “sell its stake for 42,846 shares in Klarna, corresponding to a value of SEK634 million and representing 60% of the consideration, with the remaining 40% paid in cash.”

“The acquisition will serve to strengthen our bank, card and payment services and support a competitive global landscape. It also further cements that Klarna will not be a marketplace but a viable and competitive alternative for retail partners versus Amazon, Google and Facebook,” said David Fock, Klarna’s Chief Product Officer.

The acquisition of the nearly 20-year-old German fintech marks Klarna’s fifth acquisition for 2021 following its procurement of Stocard, Apprl, HERO and Inspirock. Pricerunner, on the other hand, operates as an impartial price comparison site that aims to make shopping easier, allowing users to find the best deals. PriceRunner will bring new features in the form of product reviews, product “discovery” and price comparisons within the Klarna app and will be offered to retail partners so they may better track and understand consumers spending habits.

“We have spent the last five years rebuilding PriceRunner from scratch to create a best-in-class comparison shopping service while helping retail partners improve their business,” said Mikael Lindahl, PriceRunner’s Chief Executive Officer. “We see Klarna as the ideal partner to accelerate growth and achieve our long-term vision to become the most loved comparison shopping service in the world.”

Aside from budding acquisitions, Klarna has undertaken a series of new offerings and partnerships ahead of the holiday shopping season. At the end of October, Klarna partnered with Stripe to allow retailers using Stripe to activate Klarna as the preferred payment method in their checkout within minutes. Just five days prior to the release, Klarna also partnered with Wix to allow alternative payment methods to Wix eCommerce merchants across 17 countries.

According to the Swedish BNPL giant, 40% of consumers are starting their holiday shopping earlier than they did last year, Klarna’s 2021 Holidays Unwrapped report revealed.

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