March 2014



acquired

Deal Team
Klarna:
Sebastian Siemiatkowski
Niklas Adalberth
Niklas Hjelmsäter
Sofort:
Gerrit Seidel
Jens Lütcke
Christian Mangold
Corestar Partners:
Milan Bartik
Clemens Hisch
Transaction Summary
- On 5 March 2014, Klarna AB and its shareholders (“Klarna”) closed the acquisition of Sofort AG (“Sofort”)
- This strategic acquisition enables Klarna to gain access to a complementary payment method as well as to a substantial merchant base in German speaking Europe and will help Klarna to become the leading European payments provider and rival to US groups such as PayPal, Visa and MasterCard
- Klarna is one of Europe’s leading providers of payment solutions for e-commerce
Overview of Sofort
- Founded in 2005, Sofort is a leading provider of online banking ePayments in Europe, employing 131 employees in six offices
- The company’s payment solution allows customers to pay online and transfer money directly through their bank account to the bank account of the merchant
- More than 12 million online shoppers have used the company’s services at more than 25,000 registered merchants across Europe
Corestar Partners’ Role
- Corestar Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to Klarna and its shareholders on the acquisition of Sofort, demonstrating Corestar’s deep expertise in advising companies in the online payment sub-sector
- Corestar Partners has been in close dialogue with General Atlantic, one of Klarna’s key shareholders, over the past years