An important strategic agreement was signed between Intesa Sanpaolo and Nexi, concerning payment systems and in particular the transfer of the Intesa Sanpaolo business unit to Nexi concerning the acquiring activity, currently carried out for over 380.000 points of sale.
The transaction will take place through a contribution to a Nexi subsidiary for a value of 1 billion euro: the bank will sell to Nexi - for a corresponding cash consideration - the shares received against the contribution and, with part of this consideration, will purchase then by Mercury UK HoldCo Limited, the reference shareholder of Nexi, shares of the latter for an amount of 653 million euro, equal to a Intesa Sanpaolo's stake in Nexi's share capital of 9,9%.
The partnership is long-lasting and exclusive, and the news didn't take long to excite Nexi's investors, with the stock suddenly rising more than 3% in Piazza Affari, in the context of a sitting pretty flat, especially for the banking sector.
The transaction allows Intesa Sanpaolo to adequately exploit, through the contribution of its business unit, the acquiring activity, now carried out internally, also in the face of growing investment needs and the economies of scale necessary to operate efficiently in the sector in a competitive context of international dimensions, retaining a stake to the significant growth prospects of the business itself.
In 2018, they were attributable to the activity being transferred operating income of approximately 74 million euros, an operating margin of approximately 72 million and a net profit of approximately 48 million.
Following the completion of the transaction, expected for next year and subject to obtaining the usual authorizations from the competent authorities, it is a net capital gain of around 900 million euro is expected for the consolidated income statement of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group in 2020, which may not be entirely reflected in the net profit if, during the next year, suitable allocations were to be identified to strengthen sustainable profitability.
