Jack Dorsey’s Square invests $18 million in Italy’s App Satispay

Square invested about 15 million euros ($18 million) for a minority stake in Satispay, people familiar with the matter said.

FILE PHOTO: Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and fin-tech firm Square, sits for a portrait during an interview with Reuters in London, Britain, June 11, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville (REUTERS)

Square Inc., the payments company run by Jack Dorsey, is among new big investors in Italy's mobile digital payment platform Satispay SpA, in a move aimed to expand its operations across European markets, according to a statement by Satispay.

The San Francisco-based company invested about 15 million euros ($18 million) for a minority stake in Satispay, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be mentioned because the value isn't public. The deal is part of a larger round of investment of 93 million euros that will also be joined by China's Tencent Holding Ltd, LGT Lightstone, Telecom Italia SpA's TIM Ventures and other investors, the statement said.

After the investment round, the post-money value for Satispay is 248 million euros, the company said.

A spokeswoman for Satispay declines to comment on the size of Square's investment. A Square representative was not immediately available for comment.

Milan-based Satispay is among a number of fast-growing European mobile payment services, with more than 1.3 million users and 130,000 merchants adopting it such as KFC, Carrefour SA and Esselunga SpA, one of Italy's largest supermarket chains.

Jefferies and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised Satispay on the deal, the statement said.