Finance
Key Nexi shareholders back CEO Bertoluzzo for another mandate
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on January 3, 2025
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on January 3, 2025
MILAN (Reuters) -Key shareholders in Nexi, Europe's biggest payments group by volume of transactions processed, have signed a governance pact that includes keeping CEO Paolo Bertoluzzo in charge, the company said on Friday.
Nexi is set to name a new board of directors in the spring and there had been recurring speculation in financial circles in recent months that it could be headed for a change at the helm.
The payments sector has seen valuations plunge from post-pandemic highs, and faces rising competition as technology evolves rapidly bringing in new players.
Operating in a sector deemed of strategic relevance for the country, Nexi has the Italian state - through investment agency CDP Equity - as a leading shareholder with a 14.5% stake.
The governance pact ties together CDP Equity and Nexi's private equity owners. They represent in aggregate 55% of the company's capital and name 11 out of 13 board members.
CDP Equity names five members, including the chairperson. San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, which owns 21.2% of Nexi, names three directors.
Mercury, a vehicle owned by funds Bain, Advent and Clessidra which has reduced its Nexi stake over the years and now owns 9.9%, gets to name two members together with shareholder AB Europe.
Nexi listed in Milan in April 2019 at 9 euros a share, which it managed to more than double over the next two years as the COVID-19 pandemic supercharged digital payments.
The share price has declined sharply from a July 2021 peak of 19 euros. On Friday, Nexi shares were broadly flat at 5.4 euros at 1237 GMT.
The depressed valuation makes it hard for Nexi's fund owners to liquidate their investment.
The industry's woes have prompted investment banks in recent years to study a potential merger of Nexi with its main European rival, France's Worldline.
However, bankers say any deal would first need an agreement between Italy and France, which both are shareholders and have special powers to block deals in key sectors.
(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Giulia Segreti and Tomasz Janowski)