Italian payment technology company Nexi and Denmark-based digital payments provider Nets have agreed to a 10-day exclusivity period to reach a potential binding agreement on the terms of the merger.
The deal is subject to reaching a binding agreement during the 10-day exclusivity period, as well as all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals.
The principles agreed by the firms envisage a merger of Nets into Nexi as an ‘all-share’ deal with lock-up commitments provided by present shareholders of Nets.
This potential merger is expected to create a player in the digital payments landscape, with technology, capabilities, and product portfolio in Europe, and one that would act as a “one-stop-shop” to a wide range of customers.
This merged firm is expected to benefit from a wider geographic footprint, expanded product and services portfolio, and improved exposure to e-commerce.
Under Hellman & Friedman’s ownership, Nets is claimed to have undergone transformation, with investments leading to accelerated growth of its core business, not just organically but also through strategic M&As, including Dotpay/eCard, P24, and PeP.
After the sale of Nets’ account-to-account business to Mastercard, which will complete before closing of the merger with Nexi, Nets will be focused on merchant services, with an e-commerce exposure and proposition, and on issuing processing and digital payments approaches.
Last year, Nets generated revenues of €1bn and adjusted EBITDA of around €0.4bn.
