ROME (Reuters) -Fintech firm ION Group is on course to secure Italy’s approval for its planned takeover of real estate and credit manager Prelios, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The Italian government is leaning towards not using its so-called golden powers, which allow Rome to shield strategic industries, to block or set conditions for the deal, the sources said asking not to be named.
All parties declined to comment.
ION, founded by Italian businessman Andrea Pignataro, is unlisted with a complex corporate structure and provides digital services and analytics to the banking sector, ranging from trading and clearing software to core banking IT infrastructure.
The acquisition of Prelios from U.S.
hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management (DK) is the latest investment in the country by Pignataro, who built his fortune abroad.
Separate sources have previously said the deal valued the credit manager at 1.35 billion euros ($1.48 billion), 630 million euros of which ION raised in debt from banks.
The transaction comes against a backdrop of rising interest rates, in a challenge for a group known for its aggressive use of debt financing in its growth strategy.
Before Prelios, ION in 2021 acquired Cedacri in a deal that valued the Italian banking software firm at 1.5 billion euros.
The same year it fended off competition to secure control of credit and data manager Cerved with a 2 billion euro buyout offer.
The golden powers apply to key sectors such as banking, energy, telecommunications and health, but its use usually results in deals being approved with recommendations intended to preserve national interest.
Since it was introduced in 2012, successive Italian governments have used this regulation mainly to block Chinese and Russian forays into the country.
($1 = 0.9147 euros)
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Giulia Segreti, Jan Harvey and Susan Fenton)
