PayPal’s TIO Offer Wins Shareholder Approval
PayPal’s bid to acquire Vancouver-based bill payment specialist TIO Networks has been approved by TIO shareholders, who overwhelmingly voted in favor of the proposed sale at a special meeting this week. Nearly 80 percent of the outstanding TIO shares and options were represented in person or by proxy, of which, 99.8 percent voted for the sale—well over the two-thirds majority required under Canadian law.
PayPal first announced its intention to purchase TIO in February, offering about $230 million to acquire the company, in a bid to increase its services for cash users. TIO operates a network of 65,000 retail locations where consumers can pay bills via cash for more than 10,000 billers. Under terms of the sale offer, TIO’s employees will join PayPal’s Canada operations, which are based in Toronto. In the U.S., PayPal operates PayPal Cash, a Pay Award-winning service powered by Green Dot that enables consumers to use physical currency for online payments.
With shareholder approval in hand, the TIO acquisition still must be approved by the Supreme Court of British Columbia. TIO said it will apply for a final order of the court approving the arrangement on April 13. Assuming the court grants approval—and other closing conditions are met—the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2017.
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