A smartphone is held in front of an Afterpay logo displayed in this illustration taken on August 2, 2021. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration

Dec. 2 (Reuters) – Afterpay Ltd (APT.AX) will delay a shareholder meeting to approve Square Inc’s (SQ.N) $ 29 billion takeover of the Australian buy now, pay the leader later, as the payment company headed by Jack Dorsey expects regulatory nod in Spain.

The investor meeting was scheduled for December 6, but Afterpay said it would likely take place next year because Square, which rebranded itself to Block Inc, is unlikely to gain Bank of Spain approval. until mid-January.

The delay is unlikely to impact the closing of Australia’s biggest deal, which is slated for Q1 2022, Afterpay said.

“We continue to believe that the risks of closing the transaction are minimal,” said Chami Ratnapala, RBC Capital Markets analyst, in a brief client note.

Meanwhile, Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) co-founder Dorsey is expected to focus on Square after stepping down as CEO of the social media platform as he seeks to grow beyond its payment activity and in new technologies such as blockchain.

Afterpay shares fell more than 6%, far underperforming the broader Australian market (.AXJO), following Square’s 6.6% drop overnight in the US market amid concerns about the Omicron variant.

Reporting by Nikhil Kurian, Sameer Manekar and Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Rashmi Aich and Arun Koyyur

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