A Cooley partner who led the law firm’s team on assisting Japanese buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Paidy to sell its business to PayPal says the trend of international players aiming at the region’s fintech sector is on the rise.
Cooley worked together with Japanese firm Mori Hamada & Matsumoto in advising Paidy when PayPal bought the company in a landmark deal for USD2.7 billion. White & Case team advised PayPal. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year.
“With the growth of the buy now, pay later space, and fintech in general, there have been quite a few noteworthy deals in the past several months,” Rama Padmanabhan, who led the Cooley team, told Asia Business Law Journal.
“It’s no secret that there is heightened interest in deal-making involving these rapidly growing, Asia-based companies, making for fast-moving, complex, cross-border transactions that require in-depth experience and knowledge of the playing field,” said Padmanabhan.
Padmanabhan’s colleague, partner Patrick Loofbourrow, helped lead the firm’s San Diego-based team, while associates Andrew Harline in Shanghai and Vivian Tsai in Los Angeles also assisted the transaction.
The White & Case team advising PayPal was led by Tokyo-based partners Nels Hansen and Jun Usami, with the support of partners Toshio Dokei, Ayako Kawano and Zenya Onishi in Tokyo, and Steven Gee in New York.
The transaction is expected to increase PayPal’s capabilities, distribution and relevance in the domestic payments market in Japan, the third-largest e-commerce market in the world. Following the acquisition, Paidy will continue to operate its existing business, maintain its brand, and support a variety of consumer wallets and marketplaces.
