The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is heading in the right direction at last on Friday.
In early trade, the buy now pay later (BNPL) provider's shares are up 5% to $5.98.
Despite this gain, the Zip share price is still down 10% since this time last month.
Why is the Zip share price rising today?
There have been a couple of catalysts for the rise in the Zip share price today.
The first is a rebound in the tech sector today following a positive night of trade on the Nasdaq index.
At the time of writing, the S&P/ASX All Technology Index is up 1.1%. This compares favourably to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which is up 0.65% currently.
What else is driving its shares higher?
Also potentially giving the Zip share price a lift today is the release of an announcement this morning.
According to the release, the company has completed the acquisition of European BNPL provider Twisto Payments for $115.8 million in shares. Management notes that the acquisition provides Zip with a gateway to one of the world's largest ecommerce markets and access to all 27 member states of the European Union (EU).
Twisto was founded in 2013 and has served almost one million customers across 22,000 merchants and is a leading BNPL platform in Central Europe. The release highlights that it has developed a unique omnichannel payments platform, giving customers full control and the freedom to pay for their everyday purchases over short and longer-term instalments.
Some of Twisto's flagship merchants include KFC, Pizza Hut, Secret Escapes, Gap, New Balance, Delivery Hero, Takeaway, Yves Rocher and Under Armour.
Zip's Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Larry Diamond, has previously spoken very positively about the acquisition of Twisto.
In May, he commented: "The acquisition of Twisto shows our commitment to global growth and follows our 'Coalition of Founders' model, where we back strong founders with a shared vision and deep cultural alignment in our quest for global payments coverage."
"We are very much looking forward to adding this strategic geography to our growing footprint and fulfilling global merchant demand. We have been impressed by the Twisto team, their deep customer focus and product set and look forward to working closely with them to deliver on the opportunities we jointly have in front of us," he concluded.
