Motive Partners Invests $50 Million for Controlling Stake in Splitit

Private equity group Motive Partners has secured a controlling stake in installment payments company Splitit.

Motive has committed to invest $50 million in Splitit, the companies announced Tuesday (Dec. 13) as it also delisted from the Australian Stock Exchange.

That delisting had been one of the requirements for Motive to invest the first tranche of funds, $25 million, Splitit said in a news release. The other: the “redomicile” of the company from Israel to the Cayman Islands via a share-exchange accomplished through a merger.

“Attracting a strategic investor of this caliber is a testament to the quality of our team and our unique, innovative offering,” Splitit Managing Director and CEO Nandan Sheth said in the release.

“Motive’s investment significantly strengthens our balance sheet and brings additional global payments expertise, allowing the team to accelerate our white-label product strategy, product innovation, and our Tier One global distribution partnerships.”

Motive first announced its plans to invest in Splitit in August. The remaining half of its investment will come once Spilit reaches “certain 2023 full-year financial performance milestones (which Splitit is currently exceeding),” the release said, as well as the satisfaction of other closing conditions.

Based in Atlanta, Splitit offers an “Installments-as-a-Service” platform to help businesses working with legacy buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers. The company says its platform can mitigate issues with BNPL such as “the declining conversion funnel, clutter at the checkout, and a lack of control of the merchant’s customer experience.”

PYMNTS Intelligence collaborated with Splitit recently on the study “Installment Plans Becoming a Key Part of Shopper’s Toolkit,” which looks at how consumers employ installment plans for retail products — merchant versus credit card and BNPL.

The study found that failing to offer shoppers a split pay option can cost retail merchants their sales, with a notable 22% of consumers saying they are seriously thinking about switching to competitors that offer this payment method.

And the potential impact of not offering installment plans goes beyond just customer attrition. For example, nearly 30% of consumers say they would be more likely to consider larger purchases if they had the flexibility to use their existing credit card limits.

“So, lack of split-pay options may cause not only clients to migrate to other competitors, but also to miss the possibility to generate additional cross-sales,” PYMNTS wrote.