Kiwi software company Xero to buy US payments platform for $4.1b
Xero says the new deal would be a significant change for the company. File photo.
Photo:
RNZ
Accounting software giant Xero - based in Wellington but listed in Australia - is to buy an American payments platform operator Melio for US$2.5 billion (NZ$4.1b), as it looks to expand earnings in the United States.
The deal will combine Xero's accounting software with Melio's payments platform in the key small and medium business market.
Xero chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy said the deal would be a significant change for the company.
"Xero and Melio are highly complementary - together they complete the key jobs to be done for US SMBs (small medium businesses), extend reach across customer segments, provide both direct and syndicated offerings, and deliver multiple revenue drivers."
She said the deal would double Xero's 2025 financial sales by 2028.
The company earns the bulk of its earnings through sales in Australia and New Zealand, but has been challenged in trying to grow its US earnings.
The acquisition is being funded by a sale of 10.5m new shares to big investors at A$176 each, a 9 percent discount to Xero's last traded price. That will raise about half of the purchase price, while existing Xero shareholders will be offered a total of A$200m worth of shares at a discounted price.
Xero is also issuing shares to current Melio shareholders, as well as using some cash reserves, to be supplemented by some borrowing.
Xero was the flag bearer for New Zealand's technology sector when it listed on the NZX in 2007, but
switched to a single listing on the Australian stock exchange in 2018
, although it has maintained its nominal head office Wellington.
It
shed hundreds of jobs
in a restructuring in 2023.
- RNZ
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- RNZ News
Kiwi software company Xero to buy US payments platform for $4.1b
Xero says the new deal would be a significant change for the company. File photo. Photo: RNZ Accounting software giant Xero - based in Wellington but listed in Australia - is to buy an American payments platform operator Melio for US$2.5 billion (NZ$4.1b), as it looks to expand earnings in the United States. The deal will combine Xero's accounting software with Melio's payments platform in the key small and medium business market. Xero chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy said the deal would be a significant change for the company. "Xero and Melio are highly complementary - together they complete the key jobs to be done for US SMBs (small medium businesses), extend reach across customer segments, provide both direct and syndicated offerings, and deliver multiple revenue drivers." She said the deal would double Xero's 2025 financial sales by 2028. The company earns the bulk of its earnings through sales in Australia and New Zealand, but has been challenged in trying to grow its US earnings. The acquisition is being funded by a sale of 10.5m new shares to big investors at A$176 each, a 9 percent discount to Xero's last traded price. That will raise about half of the purchase price, while existing Xero shareholders will be offered a total of A$200m worth of shares at a discounted price. Xero is also issuing shares to current Melio shareholders, as well as using some cash reserves, to be supplemented by some borrowing. Xero was the flag bearer for New Zealand's technology sector when it listed on the NZX in 2007, but switched to a single listing on the Australian stock exchange in 2018 , although it has maintained its nominal head office Wellington. It shed hundreds of jobs in a restructuring in 2023. - RNZ
RNZ News
16 hours ago
- RNZ News
Inaugural board named for Papua New Guinea NRL franchise ahead of 2028 debut
The board announcement was made in Port Moresby on Tuesday by the ARLC chairman Peter V'landys AM and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo, alongside PNG Prime Minister James Marape and Australian Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister, PNG The inaugural board members of the Papua New Guinea rugby league franchise, set to make its debut in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition in 2028, includes a number of business and industry leaders in both PNG and Australia. Chaired by Ray Dib, the current seven-member Board announced by the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), includes former PNG professional rugby league player Marcus Bai. The board announcement was made in Port Moresby on Tuesday by the ARLC chairman Peter V'landys AM and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo, alongside PNG Prime Minister James Marape and Australian Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy. The first-ever board members of the PNG franchise are Dib (chairman), Lorna McPherson, Richard Pegum, Stan Joyce, Wapu Sonk, Ian Tarutia and Marcus Bai. Dib is a former Canterbury Bulldogs, Bai is a PNG Kumuls legend who won premierships with Melbourne Storm and Leeds Rhinos. The oher board members McPherson is a Digicel PNG vice-president , Joyce is current PNG Hunters chair, Pegum is an Australian finance and investment professional, while Sonk is Kumul Petroleum managing director, with Tauritia being the NASFUND chief executive. An eighth independent director will still be appointed by the Board itself, after considering which additional skills the board requires. The NRL said the announcement is a major milestone and sets the franchise on a path to great success both on and off the field. What that means is work on the franchise can now start in earnest, with two years to go before the team enters the competition proper. V'landys said the new NRL Club will provide a pathway for young people in PNG to follow their dreams and it will help transform societal and economic outcomes, bringing the two countries of PNG and Australia together. "The importance of this franchise goes well beyond winning games of football, it is about nation building and bringing our two countries closer together," V'landys said. "This is an important moment for the NRL as PNG is set up to become a nursery of talent in the region for the entire competition, not to mention the millions of fans that will now follow a new team entering the competition. "This Club will act as beacon of hope and opportunity across PNG and offer opportunity to young people hoping for a better future." Conroy said the PNG NRL team will be a catalyst for economic growth, creating jobs and boosting tourism. "Together with PNG, we are building more than a team - we are building a legacy and underscoring our shared interest in stable and prosperous region." The board announcement was made in Port Moresby on Tuesday by the ARLC chairman Peter V'landys AM and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo, alongside PNG Prime Minister James Marape and Australian Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister, PNG Marape also announced a competition giving fans the opportunity to vote for the name of the PNG franchise. He has tasked the new board of the nation's NRL franchise with launching the competition, and said the name must reflect the shared history and values of Australia and PNG, which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence on 16 September. "I have my own views towards what should be the team name, but…11 million people must decide on the name of the team," he said. "It must be a name that at least 50 percent, 60 percent or 70 percent of the country supports. It must not just be a name, there must be a motif behind the name. "The strategy is about uniting our people and uniting PNG with Australia forever, and so you must have the name resonate with this reason; something that every child, it doesn't matter where he or she comes from, identifies with going forward and every Australian also has an affinity for this name. "I want children of this country to find a name that resonates with our shared past, our present today and where we are going into the future as two people living side by side in this part of planet Earth, where after so much violence in other parts of the earth, we want to keep our Pacific a safe, clean place for our children to live and co-exist." The board announcement was made in Port Moresby on Tuesday by the ARLC chairman Peter V'landys AM and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo, alongside PNG Prime Minister James Marape and Australian Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister, PNG ARLC Chair V'landys has predicted the PNG team entering the NRL in 2028 could rival Penrith after visiting the proposed site for accommodation and a Centre of Excellence in Port Moresby. V'landys and NRL CEO Abdo looked at the facilities where the team's players and their families would live and train in. NRL said the duo believe the NRL's 19th franchise will be competitive from the outset, particularly with tax exemptions offered by the PNG Government. V'landys noted that the Junior Kumuls, whose side included two players from the Queensland Under-19s team in Phillip Coates and Cooper Bai, had a 22-22 draw with the Australian Schoolboys last October. The Junior Kumuls, featuring another Queensland Under-19s player with PNG heritage in Sam Stephenson, narrowly lost 20-16 to the Australian Schoolboys in 2023. "From my perspective, the Australian Schoolboys side has always been very powerful and has always brought the elite players," V'landys said. "Most of the first grade players in the NRL came through the schoolboys system, and for the Papua New Guinea team to draw with them is an extraordinary event. "If that's an example of the future, Papua New Guinea will dominate, and that's what we're worried about. We're not worried about them being competitive. We're worried about them dominating because they could be the next Penrith, easily. "You've got 12 million people that you can call upon in juniors. Our job is to produce those players, so we're going to put our former players into the schools, we're going to start local competitions, we're going to entice young kids to go to school and give them an opportunity to play in the NRL." He said there will be a lot of interest from some top players in the NRL because of the salary cap exemptions for clubs to sign up to two pathways players from Papua New Guinea, while there is also funding to develop the vast untapped talent pipelines in PNG. "We're very confident we're going to attract some marquee players and having the tax exemption is very important because that will motivate those players to bring their families over to Papua New Guinea to play," V'landys said. With the Board in place, there is now going to be more.
RNZ News
16 hours ago
- RNZ News
Treasury advised government not to buy rail enabled Cook Strait ferries weeks before it announced it would
Minister for Rail Winston Peters announcing the Cook Strait ferry replacement plan back in March. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER Treasury advised the government not to buy rail enabled Cook Strait ferries three weeks before it announced it would. On March 31 the government announced it would buy two new Interislander ferries to be delivered by 2029 to replace the current aging fleet. It came in wake of Finance Minister Nicola Willis having pulled the plug on the previous government's Cook Strait mega ferry plan named iReX in 2023. The ships announced in March would be 200 meters long and rail enabled, which meant rail freight could be rolled on and off them. New documents revealed under the Official Information Act show just 20 days earlier on March 10, Treasury recommended the government buy non-rail enabled ships. The agency said the option would be cheaper while achieving the aim of the project. "There are operational advantages from rail-enablement, but these do not fully offset the increased capital cost." The Ministry of Transport also cast doubt on the move, and last year a Ministerial Advisory Group recommended the government buy two non-rail enabled ferries. Meanwhile the Ferry Holdings Company which was set up in March to lead contractual negotiations with shipyards and ports supported a decision to buy rail enabled ferries. "The simplest and most efficient method of moving freight across Cook Strait is by rail enabled ferries." In a statement to RNZ Rail Minister Winston Peters said that officials took a narrow approach on the consideration of the ferry options. "They were effectively on autopilot, believing the government would agree to end 60 years of Interislander connecting road and rail." Peters said he did not agree with the advice Treasury provided. "Their advice was so blinkered that it consistently presented its recommended solution as "cheaper" even when their own analysis showed the option we selected had the lowest overall cost and the highest economic value." Treasury declined to comment on Peters' statements. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
