PayPal’s Paidy Deal Substantiates Pandemic-Led FinTech Boom

The US-based PayPal Holdings Inc confirms that it is taking over Paidy, a buy now, pay later platform, for $2.7 billion, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Buying Paidy, PayPal is all set to expand its footprint in the US where online shopping has tripled during the last decade to roughly $ 200 billion. Even though two-thirds of purchases are still paid in cash, the FinTech company is optimistic about its continued growth in the US.

The PayPal-Paidy deal reflects how the pandemic-led boom continues to broaden its horizon. Besides FinTech, the ecommerce and manufacturing sectors have witnessed a major boom during the pandemic.

“I wouldn't view this (deal) as impacting the U.S. BNPL market but more as PayPal's route into the Japanese market,” Kunaal Malde, an analyst at Atlantic Equities, said.

Like Americans, the Japanese also prefer cash over online transactions. However, things have changed in the recent past as the FinTech industry continues to flourish.

“One of the notable things about Japan’s BNPL market compared to the United States or Europe is that most users clear their outstanding balance by the end of the month in one payment. In Japan accumulating debt is more frowned on.”

With all this said, PayPal is eyeing the top spot in an industry experiencing a boom led by the ongoing pandemic.

The quotes used in this piece were extracted from Reuters.

 

Zebra Technologies has announced that it will soon be acquring Antuit.ai

 

Zebra Technologies, a company that focuses on helping enterprises achieve a performance edge, has recently made an announcement that plans are in motion to acquire Antuit.ai. The transaction for the same is expected to be done by the end of this year, and it will be following all the customary closing conditions. The latest acquisition of Antuit.ai is expected to boost Zebra’s appeal towards consumer product companies. Furthermore, Zebra had also acquired Adaptive Vision and Fetch Robotics as a part of its strategic acquisition plan. A new machine vision and industrial scanning portfolio were also revealed by Zebra.

Zebra’s chief product & solutions officer, Bill Burns, has stated that the company’s main focus is now on productivity and visibility, which will be enhanced following the latest acquisition. He furthermore added that Zebra’s latest acquisitions would create more attractive value for its customers who are looking for solutions that have dynamic optimization of labor, inventory management, and advanced planning capabilities. Antuit.ai is well-known in the artificial intelligence SaaS segment and for merchandising and forecasting. Antuit.ai was founded in 2013, with the focus being on advanced supply chain and analytical forecasting solutions. However, Antuit.ai expanded its offerings following the acquisition of Prognos.

 

Cargill to Expand its APAC Presence with Aalst Acquisition

Cargill has announced its intent to buy Asian chocolate manufacturer Aalst to expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. This acquisition will add to Cargill's growing portfolio of cocoa products that it sells in the APAC.

Aalst has a huge portfolio that features six brands. The company's customer base is spread out in over 50 countries, where it exports industrial, retail, and foodservice clients in key markets such as India, China, Southeast Asia, Oceania, Korea, and Japan.

“The rapidly growing Asian marketplace is increasingly wielding its influence around the globe, sparking inspiration and driving international trends,” said Francesca Kleemans, managing director for Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate Asia-Pacific. “Joining with Aalst strengthens our position in this critical region, enabling us to become the supplier-of-choice for industrial and foodservice customers. With an expanded selection of value-added and specialty chocolate products and deep technical expertise, together we can accelerate innovation, better helping customers create products that continue to surprise and delight.”

After the completion of the acquisition transaction, all the Aalst assets including its manufacturing plant in Singapore, R&D capabilities in Singapore and Shanghai, and over 200 employees across the region will join Cargill’s cocoa and chocolate Asia-Pacific operations.

 

Rockwell Automation Successfully Acquires Plex Systems to Expand Cloud Offering

Rockwell Automation has completed the acquisition of Plex Systems, which is a leading cloud-native manufacturing platform. Rockwell Automation has agreed to acquire Plex for $2.22 billion in cash. In addition, both the companies have agreed to provide a modern and robust infrastructure for cloud-native platforms. With this deal, both the firms will expand their cloud-based market worldwide.

Plex will offer a single-instance, multi-tenant SaaS manufacturing platform, including advanced manufacturing execution systems, quality, and supply chain management capabilities. The company has around 700 customers and manages more than 8 billion transactions per day. Its software capabilities will be further differentiated by Rockwell Automation's global market access, turning real-time data into actionable insights.

Also, Plex's platform will help its customers to connect, automate, track, and analyze their operations and connected supply chains. The acquisition will be a combination of cash and short-term and long-term debt. It is reported that the acquisition is expected to close in Rockwell Automation's fiscal fourth quarter. As a part of this acquisition, Rockwell Automation will add more than 500 new employees to design, operate, and maintain production automation and management systems.