The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) dropped by 0.7% today to 7,266 points.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:
Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P)
The Zip share price rose by 1.7% today after the announcement of a partnership with Propell Holdings Ltd (ASX: PHL).
It was announced that Zip would launch as the first buy now, pay later product on the Propell platform.
Propell said that a key strategy for the business is to strengthen its transactional product to allow customers to accept all standard payment types from their end customers, including credit cards, debit and now BNPL through the Propell platform.
Propell said this provides greater flexibility in getting paid so they improve the user experience with their end customers, and improve their own cashflow.
The CEO of Propell, Michael Davidson, said:
I am delighted to be announcing our first BNPL product in partnership with Zip which we anticipate will attract new customers to the platform and underpin improved margins in our transactions business. A key focus at Propell, is to help our customers to better manage their finances and in particular their cashflow, and the Zip BNPL product will immediately enable these improvements with their up-front payments solution.
Cettire Ltd (ASX: CTT)
The Cettire share price rose around 5% after announcing that it was expanding into children's wear segment through a new website vertical.
The company currently has access to more than 6,000 children's wear products and will seek to expand its range over time.
Cettire founder and CEO Dean Mintz said:
The children's wear category is an attractive adjacent segment in the luxury appeal industry. We are excited by the expansion of Cettire into children's wear and see excellent growth prospects for this category.
Having rapidly scaled Cettire over the past three years, our expansion into children's wear is a natural expansion of our range. It increases Cettire's addressable market, whilst also providing scope to grow share of spend with existing customers and introduce new potential customers to Cettire's online luxury goods platform. We continue to assess further opportunities to expand our addressable market and our expansion into children's wear highlights the inherent scalability of our business model, which does not require inventory investment.
The children's wear range is now live, with shipping available to more than 50 markets.
REA Group Limited (ASX: REA)
REA announced that it has completed the acquisition of Mortgage Choice Limited (ASX: MOC)
The takeover the ASX 200 share of $1.95 per share translates into an enterprise value of approximately $244 million.
REA Group CEO Owen Wilson said:
The completion of the Mortgage Choice acquisition represents an exciting milestone for our combined businesses. We're extremely pleased to welcome the Mortgage Choice team into REA. Together, we look forward to accelerating REA's financial services strategy to become a leading player in the home loan market.
