5% stake in Afterpay Ltd, has been acquired by Tencent Holdings, the Australian buy-now-pay-later firm said on Friday.
Shareholding of Tencent in Afterpay Ltd was worth around A$390 million ($251.55 million), contingent on Afterpay shares’ closing level on Friday.
The Chinese tech giant, which owns stakes in computer game companies Riot Games and Supercell and has exposure to food delivery and e-commerce verticals, said had said earlier this year earlier this year it’d focus more on smart retail and payment platforms within the future.
Its instant messaging platform WeChat also allows users to do payments and book flights and hotels.
Buy-now-pay-later service providers have gained popularity, mainly with millennials, as they permit payment for goods through interest-free installments, helping customers sidestep stringent rules related to getting a credit card or loan.
Melbourne-based Afterpay has also grown its customer base considerably within the u. s., which is proving to be a key market because it taps the influential but largely nascent region.
Tencent’s stake in Afterpay was built from end of March through April, a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange showed.
