(Bloomberg) — Nexi SpA is in advanced talks to acquire the Italian payment unit of BPER Banca SpA for about 350 million euros ($397 million), according to people with knowledge of the matter, in a deal that would add to increasing consolidation in the sector.
The Italian payments giant began exclusive discussions with BPER earlier this month to buy its merchant acquiring business, which specializes in the management of electronic payments, said the people, asking not to be named discussing confidential information. A deal is expected to be signed by the end of March, some of the people said.
Representatives for BPER and Nexi declined to comment.
BPER shares pared losses after the report, trading at 2.03 euros as of 3:35 p.m. in Milan.
“It makes sense for BPER to sell a business that needs scale to remain profitable,” said Fabrizio Bernardi, an analyst at Bestinver Sociedad de Valores SA. “The bank may use the proceeds from disposal to speed up de-risking and restructuring.”
The European payments industry is in a phase of rapid consolidation, with banks disposing of their own units and specialized players ramping up their business. The purchase is part of Nexi’s strategy to buy payment assets of its banking partners, while keeping relations and contracts in place with the banks.
Since taking over in 2016, Nexi Chief Executive Officer Paolo Bertoluzzo has expanded the company through acquisitions, creating the Europe’s biggest payments firm by volume.
In the last five years, Nexi has bought the merchant payment businesses of several Italian banking partners, including the units of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, Banca Carige SpA and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA. In Greece, Nexi also agreed to buy the payment business of Alpha Bank SA in November, while its main peer Worldline SA has bought the merchant acquiring unit of Eurobank SA.
(Adds BPER shares in fourth paragraph, analyst comment in fifth.)
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