Italy’s Payment Giants Nexi & Sia In €15B Merger Talks

Italy’s Nexi has agreed to acquire crosstown fintech rival SIA for about €4.6 billion (US$5.4 billion) in a stock deal that creates a European giant in the fast-consolidating payments sector, reported The Financial Times. 

The deal, which will result in a company with an estimated combined market capitalization of around €15 billion, marks the end of months long negotiations. The combined market value is based on Nexi’s market capitalization on Friday, October 2, of about €10.6 billion, plus the amount it is paying in shares for closely-held SIA, which is majority-owned by an arm of the Italian government. 

The payments sector has attracted a string of big deals over the past few years, as companies seek greater scale to keep costs low, add customers and fund investments in new technology, reported the FT.

Paolo Bertoluzzo, Nexi’s chief executive, is set to become chief executive of the enlarged group, the people said. CDP will become the group’s single largest investor owning about 25% of the merged entity. Nexi’s largest shareholders, Mercury UK, a vehicle of private equity groups Bain, Advent and Clessidra, and lender Intesa Sanpaolo, will be diluted. Mercury UK owns 33.4% of Nexi and Intesa 10.5%.