Latest news with #NewZealand-headquartered
Economic Times
25-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
New Zealand's Xero to buy US fintech Melio for $2.5 billion
The deal fills a gap in Xero's offer by adding payments to its accounting software while enabling both parties to scale up. Australia-listed, New Zealand-headquartered Xero dominates its home markets but has been trying to grow in the U.S. where it says it makes about 7% of sales. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Zealand accounting software giant Xero agreed to buy New York payments provider Melio for $2.5 billion, the companies said on Wednesday, accelerating the Kiwi firm's push in the U.S. market with one of the country's biggest outbound deal fills a gap in Xero's offer by adding payments to its accounting software while enabling both parties to scale up. Australia-listed, New Zealand-headquartered Xero dominates its home markets but has been trying to grow in the U.S. where it says it makes about 7% of deal "enables a step change in our North America scale and the potential to help millions of US (small-to-medium businesses) and their accountants better manage their cash flow and accounting on one platform", said Xero CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy in a forecast the buyout would double its 2025 financial sales by co-founder and CEO Matan Bar said he was "excited by our shared purpose to scale in the US and combine Xero's accounting capabilities with Melio's accounts payable and receivable solutions".Shares of Xero were suspended from trading on Wednesday as the A$30 billion ($19.5 billion) market capitalisation company asked institutional investors for A$1.85 billion to help pay for the purchase, but analysts gave a cautious endorsement of the deal."There is much to like in terms of bulking up US exposure with a leading, fast-growing payments player and longer term the proposed deal makes sense," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Garry Sherriff in a client note."It will take time to process the intricacies of the deal and the pathway forward."E&P analyst Paul Mason said the buyout price "looks pretty full for the stand-alone business but works if you think the company can pull off strategic synergies around greater distribution".
Time of India
25-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
New Zealand's Xero to buy US fintech Melio for $2.5 billion
Live Events New Zealand accounting software giant Xero agreed to buy New York payments provider Melio for $2.5 billion, the companies said on Wednesday, accelerating the Kiwi firm's push in the U.S. market with one of the country's biggest outbound deal fills a gap in Xero's offer by adding payments to its accounting software while enabling both parties to scale up. Australia-listed, New Zealand-headquartered Xero dominates its home markets but has been trying to grow in the U.S. where it says it makes about 7% of deal "enables a step change in our North America scale and the potential to help millions of US (small-to-medium businesses) and their accountants better manage their cash flow and accounting on one platform", said Xero CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy in a forecast the buyout would double its 2025 financial sales by co-founder and CEO Matan Bar said he was "excited by our shared purpose to scale in the US and combine Xero's accounting capabilities with Melio's accounts payable and receivable solutions".Shares of Xero were suspended from trading on Wednesday as the A$30 billion ($19.5 billion) market capitalisation company asked institutional investors for A$1.85 billion to help pay for the purchase, but analysts gave a cautious endorsement of the deal."There is much to like in terms of bulking up US exposure with a leading, fast-growing payments player and longer term the proposed deal makes sense," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Garry Sherriff in a client note."It will take time to process the intricacies of the deal and the pathway forward."E&P analyst Paul Mason said the buyout price "looks pretty full for the stand-alone business but works if you think the company can pull off strategic synergies around greater distribution".
The Star
25-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
New Zealand's Xero to buy US fintech Melio for $2.5 billion
A person counts U.S. one-hundred dollar bills at a currency exchange office, in Santiago, Chile April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Pablo Sanhueza (Reuters) - New Zealand accounting software giant Xero agreed to buy New York payments provider Melio for $2.5 billion, the companies said on Wednesday, accelerating the Kiwi firm's push in the U.S. market with one of the country's biggest outbound deals. The deal fills a gap in Xero's offer by adding payments to its accounting software while enabling both parties to scale up. Australia-listed, New Zealand-headquartered Xero dominates its home markets but has been trying to grow in the U.S. where it says it makes about 7% of sales. The deal "enables a step change in our North America scale and the potential to help millions of US (small-to-medium businesses) and their accountants better manage their cash flow and accounting on one platform", said Xero CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy in a statement. Xero forecast the buyout would double its 2025 financial sales by 2028. Melio co-founder and CEO Matan Bar said he was "excited by our shared purpose to scale in the US and combine Xero's accounting capabilities with Melio's accounts payable and receivable solutions". Shares of Xero were suspended from trading on Wednesday as the A$30 billion ($19.5 billion) market capitalisation company asked institutional investors for A$1.85 billion to help pay for the purchase, but analysts gave a cautious endorsement of the deal. "There is much to like in terms of bulking up US exposure with a leading, fast-growing payments player and longer term the proposed deal makes sense," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Garry Sherriff in a client note. "It will take time to process the intricacies of the deal and the pathway forward." E&P analyst Paul Mason said the buyout price "looks pretty full for the stand-alone business but works if you think the company can pull off strategic synergies around greater distribution". ($1 = 1.5387 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Byron Kaye in Sydney and Rajasik Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Sonali Paul)
NZ Herald
13-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Capital Markets: ‘Big picture' group advising on Invest New Zealand
A high-powered advisory group chaired by Rob Morrison has been appointed to advise on the establishment of Invest New Zealand. Morrison has had a lengthy career in international capital markets and chairs Morrison, a New Zealand-headquartered global investment firm with more than $25 billion in assets under management. The other
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lactalis 'proposes to acquire' Fonterra dairy assets, Australia's ACCC says
Australia's competition authority has flagged interest by dairy giant Lactalis to acquire Fonterra's up-for-sale consumer-facing dairy assets. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued an 'under consideration' notice today (2 May) relating to the proposal by France-headquartered Lactalis. ACCC has invited feedback on the proposal from 'interested parties' by 16 May, stating in a statement that Lactalis 'proposes to acquire' Fonterra's global consumer business and the cooperative's dairy and ingredients foodservice businesses in Australia. New Zealand-headquartered Fonterra first announced an exit plan from its consumer-facing division in May last year, when it said the business would explore a full or partial disposal of the assets. Then in November, Fonterra said it would move ahead with the proposal, throwing a possible IPO of the consumer operations into the option pool as the co-op instead plans to focus on the dairy ingredients and foodservice parts of the business. The divestment plan also includes the co-op's businesses in Oceania and Sri Lanka. The interest from Lactalis has emerged a day after Reuters reported, quoting unnamed sources, that the French business was among a group of companies 'considering' bidding for the Fonterra assets. Canada-based Saputo, Japan's Meiji Holding Co. and US investment firm Warburg Pincus were also reportedly part of the group. Warburg Pincus declined to comment on the speculation yesterday (1 May) when approached by Just Food, while Saputo had not responded. This publication was unable to reach Meiji for comment. Fonterra had also not responded to Just Food's request made yesterday to ascertain the status of the disposal proceedings or to comment on any parties from which it may have received interest. Lactalis, meanwhile, has responded today. It was a public holiday in France yesterday, like much of Europe for Labour Day. Initially, it said: 'As the world's leading dairy group, Lactalis is looking at all the opportunities that present themselves,' confirming with Just Food via a spokesperson that the dairy major currently has 'no activities in New Zealand, Oceania or Sri Lanka'. Lactalis then issued a follow-on statement, acknowledging it was in response to the ACCC's filing. 'As the leading dairy group, global development is core to our growth plans, and we are naturally considering investments in Australia and internationally,' Lactalis said. 'We would envisage many interested parties would participate in the sale process. Several pre-emptive steps are standard ahead of any agreement being considered, and Lactalis have not signed an agreement.' According to the ACCC, Lactalis has around 500 milk suppliers across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. It processes milk into cheeses, spreads and yogurts, and also processes dairy ingredients such as milk powders. The ACCC added that Lactalis and Fonterra 'overlap in various parts of the dairy supply chain', hence the request for comments by 16 May. Those areas were listed as the purchase of raw milk, mainly in Victoria and Tasmania. And processing into finished dairy products like cheese, spreads and yogurts, as well as ingredients such as milk fats, whey powders and lactose. There could also be conflict in the supply of dairy products and ingredients to retailers and foodservice customers, the ACCC suggested. Fonterra's global consumer-facing business features the brands Anchor butter, Mammoth flavoured milk drinks and De Winkel yogurts. Others include Mainland, Kāpiti, Anlene, Anmum, Fernleaf, Western Star and Perfect Italiano. Oceania comprises Fonterra's operations in New Zealand and Australia, previously merged as one business unit, serving the retail, out-of-home and B2B channels. The Sri Lanka business also supplies those same customers. Two of the unnamed sources referenced by Reuters yesterday said the Fonterra assets up for disposal could fetch around NZ$4bn ($2.3bn). In November, Fonterra said the assets 'have received meaningful buyer interest' having noted a few months earlier in May that the consumer business used around 15% of the co-op's milk solids and accounted for about 19% of group operating earnings in the first half of its 2024 fiscal year. Interim first-half results issued in March of last year, showed Fonterra's group profit after tax rose 23% to NZ$674m, while EBIT was up 14% at NZ$986m. Meanwhile, Lactalis issued its once-a-year financial update in April, noting the group's sales had exceeded €30bn ($34bn) for the first time in 2024. Revenue rose 2.8% to €30.3bn, slowing from the 4.3% growth in 2023. Operating income increased 4.3%, although Lactalis did not provide an end figure, while net income dipped 19% to €359m. Lactalis has also been active in M&A. Only this week, it emerged that the dairy giant had expanded its presence in Portugal with the acquisition of local cheese maker Queijos Tavares. Its latest deal in Portugal follows the acquisition of Sequeira & Sequeira in March last year. Earlier in 2025, Lactalis announced the purchase of Uruguay-based dairy company Granja Pocha. It has also expanded in the US as Lactalis acquired the Yoplait yogurt business in the country from food heavyweight General Mills in the back half of last year. In another transaction last year, Lactalis acquired Nestlé's Cremora creamers business in South Africa. "Lactalis 'proposes to acquire' Fonterra dairy assets, Australia's ACCC says" was originally created and published by Just Food, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
