News: APT UPDATE 1-Afterpay's $29 bln buyout by Block set to close after Spain nod

(Adds detail on approval, background on the deal)

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Australian buy now, pay later firm Afterpay Ltd (APT) said on Wednesday its $29 billion buyout by payments firm Block Inc SQ.N , previously known as Square Inc, has received approval from the Bank of Spain, making the deal fully unconditional.

With this approval, the companies can now implement the deal, which would be Block's biggest to date and the largest buyout ever https://www.reuters.com/technology/square-buy-australias-afterpay-29-billion-2021-08-01 of an Australian firm.

Afterpay said the deal is likely to close on Feb. 1. Its shareholders had in December overwhelmingly voted in support of the deal - 99.79% of the proxy votes were cast in favor. Block investors had approved https://www.reuters.com/technology/square-investors-approve-29-bln-buyout-afterpay-2021-11-03 the deal in early November.

Trading in Afterpay shares will be suspended on the Australian stock exchange on Jan. 19, the company said in a statement https://cdn-api.markitdigital.com/apiman-gateway/ASX/asx-research/1.0/file/2924-02474792-3A585191?access_token=83ff96335c2d45a094df02a206a39ff4. (([email protected]; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))