By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--Block Inc.'s acquisition of Afterpay has cleared its final regulatory hurdle and will be implemented on Feb. 1, the Australian buy-now-pay-later provider said.

Afterpay on Wednesday said the Bank of Spain had approved the transaction and that the Australian payment company's ASX-listed shares would be suspended from trade at the close on Jan. 19.

The takeover valued Afterpay at about US$29 billion when it was announced in August. Block's shares have lost more than 40% of their value since prior to the acquisition announcement.

Block wants to use Afterpay, which charges merchants in exchange for allowing consumers to pay for goods and services in four interest-free installments, to tie its Cash App and seller ecosystems more closely together.

"Afterpay, its leadership and team have shown that groundbreaking fintech innovation built in Australia can reach global proportions," Afterpay Chair Elana Rubin said.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 11, 2022 16:55 ET (21:55 GMT)

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