FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of the Italian payments group Nexi are pictured in Milan, Italy, March 28, 2019. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo/File Photoand smaller rival SIA will meet later on Sunday and are expected to agree terms for a long-discussed merger, two sources with knowledge of the deal said.
Nexi and SIA, which is controlled by Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti , have been talking about a merger for more than a year and a half, but differences over pricing and governance have proved a sticking point. The sources said the accord would be an all share deal, with Nexi getting about 70% of the merged company and SIA some 30%. Private equity funds own around 33% of Nexi and this holding is expected to translate into some 23% of the new concern, while CDP should have some 25% in total.In recent weeks SIA has reached an agreement to keep UniCredit as a client and to extend the contract, removing a major hurdle in determining the company’s valuation in its talks with Nexi, sources said.
The payment sector has seen a wave of mergers and acquisitions, led by U.S. rivals seeking to build up their share of digital transactions.agreed to buy local peer Ingenico in February in a 7.8 billion euro deal that will create the fourth-biggest payments company in the world. CDP has been looking for a deal with Nexi to create a national champion in the payment market and secure important financial infrastructure, sources said.