Intesa Sanpaolo is set to buy 2.85% of SIA from Banca Mediolanum, rounding up its stake in the payments group SIA will create by merging with rival Nexi, a source close to the matter said on Monday.
Nexi and SIA earlier this month struck a long-awaited merger accord to create a market leader with annual revenues of 1.8 billion euros ($2.12 billion).
The deal valued SIA at 4.6 billion euros, nearly half Nexi’s market capitalisation.
Intesa Sanpaolo is set to own 7% of Nexi-SIA after Italy’s biggest bank last year sold its retailers’ payment business to Nexi taking a 9.9% stake in the firm as part of the deal.
The source said Intesa would round up its stake by buying Mediolanum’s stake.
Intesa Sanpaolo declined to comment.
A source at Banca Mediolanum said there were several potential buyers interested in the 2.85% SIA stake currently booked among Mediolanum’s assets held for trading.
Source: Reuters.com