logo
Shift4 agrees $180 million deal for Smartpay

Shift4 agrees $180 million deal for Smartpay

Finextra5 hours ago

Shift4 is continuing its acquisition spree, agreeing a US$180 million deal to take over Australian and NZ point-of-sale provider Smartpay.
0
Smartpay sells tailored payment technology through an extensive distribution network across Australia and New Zealand, supporting a diverse base of more than 40,000 merchants in the region. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals.
The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions by Shift4, which recently abandoned plans to sell off its own business after being unimpressed by suitor bids for the publicly-listed company, which has a market valuation of $7 billion.
In February, Shift4 agreed to buy Global Blue, a payments and technology provider to luxury brands, for $2.5 billion. This followed the August acquisition of Canadian gift card company Givex for C$200.
Speaking on the deal to takeover Smartpay, Shift4 CEO Taylor Lauber, says: 'This acquisition follows the Shift4 playbook to a tee. It deepens our strategic presence in Australia and New Zealand, providing a significant opportunity to offer our full suite of software and payments solutions in the region.
"By combining our payment infrastructure with Smartpay's distribution capabilities, we're well positioned to go-to-market at scale in the region with our leading products and services such as SkyTab POS for restaurants, SkyTab Venue for stadiums and arenas, and our end-to-end payment solution for hotels and unified commerce merchants.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

YouTube should not be exempt from Australia's under-16s social media ban, eSafety commissioner says
YouTube should not be exempt from Australia's under-16s social media ban, eSafety commissioner says

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

YouTube should not be exempt from Australia's under-16s social media ban, eSafety commissioner says

YouTube should be included in the ban on under-16s accessing social media, the nation's online safety chief has said as she urges the Albanese government to rethink its decision to carve out the video sharing platform from new rules which apply to apps such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram. The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, also recommended the government update its under-16s social media ban to specifically address features like stories, streaks and AI chatbots which can disproportionately pose risk to young people. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The under-16s ban will come into effect in December 2025, despite questions over how designated online platforms would verify users' ages, and the government's own age assurance trial reporting last week that current technology is not 'guaranteed to be effective' and face-scanning tools have given incorrect results. Although then communications minister Michelle Rowland initially indicated YouTube would be part of the ban legislated in December 2024, the regulations specifically exempted the Google-owned video site. Guardian Australia revealed YouTube's global chief executive personally lobbied Rowland for an exemption shortly before she announced the carve out. But in new advice to the communications minister, Anika Wells, Inman Grant warned that large online platforms were weakening their policies designed to reduce harm, and said YouTube should be included in the social media ban. 'Given the known risks of harm on Youtube, the similarity of its functionality to other online services, and without sufficient evidence demonstrating that Youtube predominately provides beneficial experiences for children under 16, providing a specific carve out for Youtube appears to be inconsistent with the purpose of the Act,' Inman Grant wrote in advice to Wells. YouTube was exempted from the rules after Rowland said it was among online services that helped young people access 'education and health support they need' – a deal strongly opposed by other leading social platforms, which called it an 'irrational' and 'shortsighted' decision. In her advice to Wells, Inman Grant said an exemption was 'not consistent with the purpose of the [social media minimum age] obligation to reduce the risk of harm'. Wells announced last week she had asked Inman Grant for advice on the rules around the under-16s ban. Inman Grant's advice was released by Wells' office ahead of a speech by the eSafety commissioner to the National Press Club on Tuesday. Inman Grant said exempting any particular service could create issues around enforcement, noting 'rapidly evolving' technology was leading to a 'shifting risk profile' of certain platforms, and that naming any specific platform could quickly become outdated. She said YouTube features – such as infinite scroll, auto-play and algorithmically recommended feeds – which are also present on TikTok and Instagram, were among those meant to be captured by the social media ban. According to advance speech extracts released by the eSafety Commission, Inman Grant will raise concern about YouTube in her press club speech, referencing a survey of 2,600 children aged 10 to 15 conducted by her office. 'Alarmingly, around 7 in 10 kids said they had encountered harmful content, including exposure to misogynistic or hateful material, dangerous online challenges, violent fight videos, and content promoting disordered eating,' Inman Grant will say. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'Children told us that 75% of this harmful content was most recently encountered on social media. YouTube was the most frequently cited platform in our research, with almost 4 in 10 children reporting exposure to harmful content there.' 'This also comes as the New York Times reported earlier this month that YouTube surreptitiously rolled back its content moderation processes to keep more harmful content on its platform, even when the content violates the company's own policies.' Inman Grant will also voice alarm at 'platform after platform winding back their trust and safety teams and weakening policies designed to minimise harm, making these platforms ever-more perilous for our children'. Inman Grant's advice also recommended the government's rules be significantly amended to better address the harms they set out to curb, including editing the wording of the ban as well as specifically listing the design features – such as endless content feeds, notifications, stories and streaks – which can disproportionately affect children. Meta, TikTok and Snapchat were unhappy with the original decision to exempt YouTube from the legislation. 'It is illogical to restrict two platforms while exempting the third,' TikTok's director of public policy in Australia and New Zealand, Ella Woods-Joyce, wrote in a submission to a government consultation on the ban. 'It would be akin to banning the sale of soft drinks to minors but exempting Coca-Cola.'

AustralianSuper criticised for buying up shares in Whitehaven Coal while claiming to be committed to net zero
AustralianSuper criticised for buying up shares in Whitehaven Coal while claiming to be committed to net zero

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

AustralianSuper criticised for buying up shares in Whitehaven Coal while claiming to be committed to net zero

A major Australian superannuation fund is under fire for substantially increasing its investment in the coal company Whitehaven, and being on the brink of becoming its biggest backer, while still claiming to be committed to reaching net zero emissions. Shareholder advocacy groups said AustralianSuper was moving against the trend of its peers with recent share purchases in the company, which they said were 'flying in the face of environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments'. Clean energy finance organisation Market Forces said the super fund was 'on the precipice' of becoming Whitehaven Coal's largest investor, with shares worth about $395m. Recent disclosures by Whitehaven, first reported by the Australian Financial Review, reveal AustralianSuper now owns 70.9m shares in the company, or 8.47% of shares on issue, after the recent purchases. AustralianSuper is the second-largest shareholder in the coal company and, according to Market Forces, holds nearly triple the combined shares of all of the other top 30 super funds in their default investment options, based on the latest disclosures effective as at December 2024. Market Forces said 'after fully and publicly divesting from the company in 2020', AustralianSuper now held its biggest interest in Whitehaven in 10 years. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter 'How on earth can AustralianSuper call itself a responsible investor after buying millions of shares in Whitehaven Coal?' Market Forces' senior analyst, Brett Morgan, said. 'AustralianSuper is backing Whitehaven's expansion plans, which would result in nearly 5bn tonnes of carbon pollution from burning coal, equivalent to running all of Australia's coal-fired power stations until 2062.' Morgan said the organisation had been contacted by dozens of AustralianSuper members concerned 'that their fund is greenwashing and endangering a safe future for their retirement'. An AustralianSuper spokesperson said the fund remained committed to its long-term goal of net zero by 2050. 'Whitehaven's acquisition of BHP's metallurgical coal assets changed the company's revenue profile and made it a more attractive investment given their importance in steel making,' the spokesperson said. Metallurgical coal is used primarily to make steel while thermal coal is primarily used for electricity generation. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion 'The energy transition is not linear, which means thermal coal will be an important stabilising source of electricity for the grid for some time to come, both domestically and overseas.' But Naomi Hogan, from the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, said climate-aware investors across the superannuation sector had been making an effort on ESG and emissions reductions and 'this AustralianSuper move is going against the trend of its peers'. 'Metallurgical coal investing cannot be used to shield against scrutiny of coal,' Hogan said. 'Last year ACCR published research based on a global survey of 500 investors in the steel value chain, which found that 80% of investor respondents believe metallurgical coal's risk profile will increase in the next decade.' Hogan said AustralianSuper, having previously 'talked up' the importance of its companies aligning with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, now has a 'huge amount of work ahead to bring [Whitehaven's] emissions into line'. 'ACCR will be looking closely at AustralianSuper's disclosures outlining its ESG risk assessment of this investment,' she said.

Queensland budget 2025: Crisafulli vows no austerity despite state facing $218bn debt
Queensland budget 2025: Crisafulli vows no austerity despite state facing $218bn debt

The Guardian

timean hour ago

  • The Guardian

Queensland budget 2025: Crisafulli vows no austerity despite state facing $218bn debt

The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has promised no austerity in his first budget, despite the state facing a forecast $218bn in debt. Tuesday's state budget will be the Liberal National party's first since 2014. Then led by premier Campbell Newman, the LNP lost government in 2015 after slashing tens of thousands of public service positions and proposing the sell-off of public assets to balance the books. The 2025-26 budget is expected to run a deficit, despite what the government admits is a relatively poor financial position. Asked how his approach would differ to the last LNP government, Crisafulli said he had chosen not to impose austerity measures. 'My choice is respect for people's money, not austerity. And you can respect people's money, and you can still build things, and you can still grow the services that people need,' he said on Monday. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The premier said the budget would look to resolve 'structural changes' in service delivery 'so structurally in the years to come, this state can grow and grow well'. 'We are fixing the mess we've inherited,' Crisafulli said. The LNP government claims that debt would have peaked under Labor at $218bn in 2027-28. Labor claims it would have hit just $176bn. Last year's budget – Labor's last in government – was packed with cost-of-living relief, much of it funded by borrowing. That included now permanent measures like 50-cent public transport fares, but also a range of 'sugar hit' policies such as a $1,000 energy rebate and cheaper car registration. Queensland's state government is also midway through a $100bn infrastructure program, some of it a result of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. In January the treasurer, David Janetzki, conceded a fiscal downgrade was virtually guaranteed for the state, 'with debt per capita tracking to be the worst in the country'. He said the fiscal trouble was due to an enormous increase in infrastructure costs – which he blamed on his Labor predecessors – and a decline in coal revenue, expected to drop by more than half. Janetzki said the budget would 'lay the foundation for that long-term budget repair'. 'As a government, we have been very calm and methodical about how we've undertaken the budget process,' Janetzki said on Monday. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The 2025-26 budget will include $147.9m in funding for extra police equipment. It will also include a $33bn investment in the public health system, the ABC has reported. It comes as the government is locked in enterprise bargaining with the Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union and is expected to face protests on Tuesday from the Queensland Teachers' Union. Both are furious at pay offers they say break a promise for nation-leading wages. The opposition leader, Steven Miles, has accused the government of halting Labor's hospital expansion program and cancelling projects. 'They promised this magic pudding where they could somehow lower taxes, increase spending but have lower debt. That was always based on a lie … [On Tuesday] we get to see which of their promises they've decided to break,' Miles said. Labor has long accused the government of planning to cut infrastructure projects and cost-of-living measures. On Monday Miles said the government had been worse than Campbell Newman's. S&P Global Ratings confirmed Queensland's AA+ credit rating last September. In February it revised its outlook after a midyear fiscal update by the new government, warning 'debt may rise rapidly'. It predicted that 'several projects may be cancelled, deferred or changed in scope to reduce the state's infrastructure spending over the next three years', which would lower overall infrastructure spending, pointing to a decision to slash a huge hydroelectric project, once billed as the world's largest. 'Queensland's debt levels will increase to fund spending pressures. We forecast total tax-supported debt will rise to more than 150% of operating revenue in fiscal 2027 from 100% in fiscal 2023,' it said. The agency reaffirmed its AA+ long-term credit rating, noting the state's 'exceptional liquidity and wealthy economy'.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store