Buy-now pay-later giant Klarna is set to exit its checkout business after finding that the division created a conflict of interest with fintech peers like Adyen and Stripe.
The Swedish firm confirmed on Monday that an investor consortium led by Kamjar Hajabdolahi had agreed to buy Klarna Checkout.
The deal is worth 5.4bn kronor (£407m), according to Bloomberg News. Klarna declined to comment on the value.
The buyers will officially assume ownership of the checkout business on 1 October, Klarna said. It added that Klarna, advised by Deutsche Bank, had spent more than a year engaging with prominent private equity and potential strategic buyers.
Klarna Checkout enables merchants to work directly with Klarna to put its offerings on their site while also allowing them to partner with payment service providers (PSPs) like Stripe or Adyen to make Klarna’s products available.
In recent years, Klarna has increasingly focused on building its relationship with these firms and making sure it competes with rivals like Apple Pay and PayPal for prime placement within their ecosystems. However, Checkout also directly competes with these PSPs.
Klarna’s co-founder and chief executive, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, said: “Klarna Checkout is very dear to me, and the impact it’s had on Klarna’s journey is immense. I’m so pleased it’s finding a new home, with owners who are carefully handpicked to continue to create outstanding value for our merchant partners.”
Bloomberg reported that Klarna has not actively developed or sold the Checkout solution since 2021, citing company documents. Still, the documents show that the business remains a big driver of Klarna’s European profitability.
“Klarna is looking to divest the Klarna Checkout to remove the friction and completely focus on working with its distribution channels,” the documents added. “Thus, creating a simple relationship to all partners without the PSP vs Checkout conflict.”
Hajabdolahi commented: “We look forward to engaging with our merchant partners and presenting our plans and road map for the continued evolution of KCO.”