CVC said to consider €9bn bid for Italian payments firm Nexi

(Sharecast News) - Nexi shares rose on Wednesday following a report that private equity firm CVC is weighing a €9bn deal to take the Italian payments group private after a share price collapse.

According to the Financial Times, which cited people familiar with the matter, CVC is considering a fresh bid, having twice before explored a takeover of Nexi, whose shares have fallen about 65% over the past four years.

Nexi, whose largest shareholder is buyout group Hellman & Friedman, has been hit by pressure on Europe's payments groups to cut fees, as well as renegotiations of key contracts and competition from fintech rivals.

One source told the FT that CVC would not make an offer for Nexi unless the Italian government was supportive. "The issue is entirely political at this point," they said.

Another person close to the matter told the FT it was very early in CVC's deliberations and the firm might not proceed with a formal bid.

Hellman & Friedman is not in talks with CVC or bankers over a potential deal but "would respond to a bid should one emerge", according to a person close to H&F. Italy's "golden power" rules, which cover strategically important assets including banking infrastructure, give Rome the ability to block any foreign bid for Nexi.

It was understood that the deal under consideration would carve out Nexi's digital banking solutions segment, seen as a nationally strategic asset, and transfer it to an Italian state-backed investor such as Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP).

Splitting off the digital banking division, the smallest of the group's three segments, is aimed at dissuading Rome from using its veto powers, sources said.

But CDP, the Italian state fund and Nexi's second-largest shareholder, does not appear to be supportive of a delisting of the payments group, the sources added.

FT sources said that under CVC's plan, Nexi would be reshaped into a fully-fledged software company.

According to Reuters, which cited two sources familiar with the matter, Italy's state lender CDP has ‌no plans to divest from payments group Nexi.

A separate source told Reuters that CVC is ⁠in the early stages ​of exploring a bid for Nexi, confirming the FT report.

Treasury-controlled CDP ​owns around 19% of Nexi through ‌its ⁠unit CDP Equity.

At 1345 BST, Nexi shares were up 2.9% at €3.97.