Klarna cites conflicts of interest as reason for dumping Checkout business

Klarna is set to sell its checkout business Klarna Checkout in a £410m deal, citing conflicts of interest with payment providers like Adyen and Stripe.

The division will be sold to Swedish entrepreneur Kamjar Hajabdolahi for 5.4 billion kronor (£410 million), according to documents originally reported by Bloomberg News.

The deal will reportedly be funded with £25m (336m Kronor) in equity and £130m (1.7bn kronor) in debt.

Klarna Checkout is a payment solution where Klarna handles an entire online retailer’s payment solution, providing payment methods like BNPL. Klarna Checkout is pre-integrated with most large e-commerce platforms like Shopify.

The documents said it is looking to create a “simple relationship with all partners” without the friction between payment service providers like Stripe and Klarna Checkout.

Some senior Klarna staff including Alexander Olsson, Jesper Eriksson, Rasmus Fahlander and Erik Gustafson will be making the move to the newly separate operation.

“Klarna Checkout is very dear to me, and the impact it’s had on Klarna’s journey is immense,” Klarna chief executive officer Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Bloomberg. “I’m so pleased it’s finding a new home.”

The new buyers will assume ownership of Klarna Checkout on 1 October 2024. Klarna Checkout is still profitable, according to the documents seen by Bloomberg, but Klarna hasn’t been actively developing the service since 2021.

“We are thrilled to acquire Klarna Checkout, and our ambition is to build on the solid foundation established by Klarna and take KCO to the next level, continuously evolving the product to meet the needs of our merchant partners and drive the future of eCommerce,” Hajabdolahi said in a statement



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