New York (S&P Global Ratings) Sept. 10, 2021--PayPal Holdings Inc. (A-/Stable/A-2) announced on Sept. 7, 2021, that it has agreed to acquire Paidy--a Japan-based provider of buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) solutions--for about $2.7 billion, principally in cash. This will add to PayPal's existing BNPL capabilities in the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, and Australia (with total installments loans of $875 million as of June, 30, 2021, in these five countries). This should, in our view, strengthen PayPal's business position in Japan, the third-largest ecommerce market in the world, and one of the few developed markets where "cash on delivery" is still used for digital commerce. This acquisition comes after Square Inc.'s (BB/Stable/--) announced acquisition of Afterpay, one of the largest BNPL
