PE-backed ICBPI bolts on MPS's merchant payments business for €520m

According to a statement, the deal for MPS's merchant acquiring bank had an enterprise value of €520m. Additional financial details surrounding the transaction have not been disclosed and the deal is expected to close following consent from the Italian authorities.

As part of the transaction, ICBPI's acquisition will continue to support MPS's business through a 10-year partnership.

The deal marks the third acquisition for ICBPI during its private equity ownership. Most recently, the bank fully acquired Florence-based payment process operator Bassilichi for €230m EV in December 2016. Prior to that, ICBPI purchased payment processing platforms Setefi and Intesa Sanpaolo Card from Intesa Sanpaolo for €1bn in May 2016.

Previous funding
Advent, Bain and Clessidra acquired ICBPI in 2015 in a €2.15bn deal – at the time, the largest buyout in Italy since late 2007.

Company
MPS's merchant acquiring business manages transactions for merchant clients.

The company claims to have managed transactions worth €17bn in 2016, of which 60% came from the retail sector while the remaining 40% were transactions by small and medium-sized companies.

People
Bain Capital Europe – Luca Bassi (managing director).
Advent International – Jeffrey Paduch (managing director).
Clessidra – Maurizio Bottinelli (head of investment team).
Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane – Paolo Bertoluzzo (CEO).

Advisers
Acquirer – BonelliErede (legal).
Vendor – Lazard (corporate finance); Gatti Pavesi Bianchi (legal); KPMG (financial due diligence).

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• Topics
• Portfolio management
• Financials
• Southern Europe
• Italy
• Clessidra Capital Partners
• Advent International
• Bain Capital Europe