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New Zealand fintech Xero to buy Melio Payments in US$2.5 billion deal

New Zealand fintech Xero to buy Melio Payments in US$2.5 billion deal

Straits Times9 hours ago

Xero has agreed to buy Melio Payments for US$2.5 billion in the New Zealand-based company's biggest ever acquisition.
The cash and stock deal for Melio includes as much as US$500 million (S$640 million) in additional performance and other payments over three years, according to a statement confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News.
The combined business is expected to accelerate US revenue growth, possibly more than doubling Xero's group revenue by its 2028 fiscal year, it said in the statement on the morning of June 25 in New Zealand.
'Xero and Melio are highly complementary,' Xero chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy said in the statement. 'We will continue to invest in Melio's Payments product and leverage Xero's go-to-market expertise to accelerate growth in Melio and Xero in the US.'
Melio co-founder and CEO Matan Bar will be responsible for the combined US business.
'Having worked closely with the Xero team,' Mr Bar said, 'we're excited by our shared purpose to scale in the US and combine Xero's accounting capabilities with Melio's accounts payable and receivable solutions to create comprehensive product offerings for our collective, valued customer base.'
With offices in New York, Tel Aviv and Denver, Melio provides payments software to small businesses in the food, beverage and construction industries, according to its website.
Melio's valuation hit US$4 billion in 2021 after it raised US$250 million in an investment round co-led by Thrive Capital and General Catalyst.
In 2024, though, it was valued at US$2 billion in a US$150 million funding round led by Fiserv, according to a statement.
Xero provides accounting software for invoicing, payroll and other functions, primarily to small businesses. In addition to a home office in Wellington, New Zealand, Xero has a head office in Melbourne, Australia, plus other locations in both countries as well as offices in Britain, the US, Canada, Singapore and South Africa, according to the company's website.
The company's shares have gained 15 per cent in 2025, giving the company a market value of about A$30 billion (S$24.9 billion).
Xero is New Zealand's biggest company by market value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. BLOOMBERG
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