MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s biggest lender Intesa Sanpaolo on Tuesday said it had earned 584 million euros ($606 million) from the sale of its entire 5.1% stake in Nexi, its long-term retailers’ payments partner.
The sale of the holding, carried out overnight at a 10.86% discount to Monday’s closing price as it is customary in such transactions, pushed Nexi shares sharply lower.
Intesa took advantage of last week’s rally in the shares triggered by Nexi’s better than expected quarterly results reported on the same day that U.S. inflation data buoyed global markets.
Nexi’s closing price of 9.76 euros a share on Monday compared with 8.916 euros last Wednesday, the day before it beat third quarter revenue and core profit forecasts.
Intesa said it sold its stake in Nexi at 8.70 euros per share through an accelerated book-building process managed by its investment banking arm with BofA Securities and JPMorgan.
Nexi’s shares fell 9.4% in early trade to 8.85 euros.
Intesa did not disclose the financial impact of the transaction nor say how it would use the proceeds.
Intesa paid 653 million euros in 2020 for a 9.9% stake in Nexi. The holding has since shrunk with Nexi issuing new shares following mergers with Nordic rival Nets and domestic peer SIA.
The stake purchase was part of a broader 1 billion euro deal that saw Intesa sell its retailers’ payment business to Nexi and strike a 25-year partnership, which Intesa on Monday said would not be affected by the sale of its shares.
($1 = 0.9636 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za and Alvise Armellini; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
