Klarna wins equity investment from Brightfolk

Anders Holch Povlsen is the owner of BESTSELLER which is one of Europe’s leading fashion companies, with brands such as JACK & JONES, VERO MODA, ONLY and SELECTED. Beside this, Anders Holch Povlsen has significant holdings in e-commerce fashion sites, e.g. ASOS and Zalando.

Anders Holch Povlsen will, upon receipt of approval from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen), acquire shares from existing shareholders General Atlantic, DST Global and Niklas Adalberth, all of whom will continue to retain a stake in Klarna. Anders Holch Povlsen and Brightfolk A/S will become a qualified owner of the company.

“As Klarna continues its path towards a smoother shopping experience, few people could be a better fit than Anders Holch Povlsen. Klarna has successfully been partnering with BESTSELLER for a number of years. This has given him a firsthand insight into the strengths of our offerings and therefore a unique ability to strategically support the future development of the company. I am delighted to welcome such a strong partner into Klarna.” Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna.

This investment comes as Klarna has continued to record strong transaction volume growth in the first months of this year. This is building on the 50% increase in transaction volumes in 2016, in part driven by 17,000 new merchants across markets. Also, 12 million consumers tried Klarna’s products for the first time in 2016.