sydneyaustralian buynowpaylater operator afterpay ltd has delayed a shareholder vote on its takeover by square inc while the us payments firm waits on regulatory approval from spain afterpay said the vote originally scheduled for december 6 could now be rescheduled for early 2022 square expects bank of spain approval by midjanuary but the deadline for its application is february 21 afterpay said afterpay said both companies remained confident of approval and still expected the deal to complete in the first quarter of the 2022 calendar year squares allstock offer to acquire afterpay was worth about us29 billion when the deal was announced in august shares in square have lost almost 30 of their value since late august and are down by more than 20 on their price prior to the announcement afterpay said bank of spain approval was the only regulatory condition yet to be met for the transaction to proceed overseas investment regulators in australia new zealand and spain have given their goahead while australias competition watchdog has said it does not plan a public review square wants to use afterpay which generates the bulk of its revenue from merchants but widely engages with consumers to drive business to tie its cash app and seller ecosystems more closely together