DLA Piper advises Zip Co Ltd on acquisitions of UAE’s Spotii and Czech-based Twisto

DLA Piper has advised leading digital retail finance and payments company Zip Co Ltd on the conditional acquisition of the remaining ~78% of Spotii, and ~90% of Twisto, two buy now, pay later (BNPL) payments platforms.

The share acquisition follows an initial purchase of ~22% of Spotii shares in December 2019 and ~10% of Twisto shares over the course of Q4 2020 and 1H 2021.

The BNPL model for retail payments continues to be an emerging and fast-moving industry in the region. The transaction highlights a trend towards FinTech companies looking to collaborate with retailers across the Middle East as well as the CEE region, offering cost-effective and innovative digital solutions to consumers.

The DLA Piper team in the Middle East was led by Head of Corporate Will Seivewright alongside Dubai-based Senior Associate Grace Hunt. The Prague team was led by Miroslav Dubovský, Head of Corporate and Managing Partner of the Prague office, supported by Marcel Janíček, Associate.

Commenting on the transaction, Will Seivewright said: “This transaction is a great example of our capability to combine our market-leading Middle East FinTech practice and extensive M&A capabilities. The conditional acquisition by Zip of Spotii is yet another significant deal to add to the list of innovative technology transactions recently handled by the DLA Piper Middle East team.”

Miroslav Dubovský added: ”The acquisition of the remaining shares in Twisto follows on from the investment made at the end of the last year on which we also advised. It is an exciting investment which strengthens its presence in the CEE region and underlines the strength of our unique FinTech and M&A offering in the region.”