Swedish fintech Klarna said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy price comparison site, PriceRunner, for an undisclosed sum, with media reports putting the price at more than $1 billion (€0.86m).

PriceRunner, similarly based in Sweden, also operates in Denmark, Norway and the UK, and plans to expand to more countries with Klarna’s help, it said.

For Klarna, the acquisition “will serve to strengthen our bank, card and payment services and support a competitive global landscape,” said its chief product officer, David Fock, in a statement. It will also help make Klarna “a viable and competitive alternative for retail partners” compared with the likes of Amazon, Google and Facebook, Fock said.

The acquisition… will help make Klarna ‘a viable and competitive alternative for retail partners’ compared with the likes of Amazon, Google and Facebook- Klarna chief product officer David Fock

The acquisition, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022.

Contacted by AFP, a company spokeswoman said Klarna would not provide “any guidance on acquisition price” but newspaper Svenska Dagbladet suggested it could amount to as much as 9.2 billion Swedish kronor (€931 million).

In a separate statement, investment firm Creades announced it had sold its stake of around 11 per cent in PriceRunner to Klarna for 1.1 billion kronor.

Launched in 2005, Klarna has established itself as one of Sweden’s most successful startups, offering businesses online payment solutions and consumers easy payment options.

Klarna says it is active in 17 countries, employs some 4,000 people and is valued at $45.6 billion.