FSI buys 60% of Iccrea's digital payments arm at EUR 500m EV

Rachel Lewis
01 February 2022

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Italian private equity firm FSI has bought the digital payments arm of Iccrea Banca, creating a new company called BCC Pay.

After the transaction has completed, FSI will own 60% of BCC Pay, while cooperative bank Iccrea will own 40%. It is the third largest e-payment provider in Italy, said an FSI spokesperson.

The deal values BCC Pay at close to EUR 500m, including a deferred component of up to EUR 50m. It is expected to close by summer 2022.

The deal is the ninth investment from the FSI I fund, which held a final close on EUR 1.4bn in February 2019; the GP confirmed that FSI I is now around 75% deployed, and that all its investments have originated bilaterally.

The agreement includes a long-term distribution contract of BCC Pay services in the Iccrea network, which has 2,500 branches in 1,700 Italian municipalities.

BCC Pay's general manager, Fabio Pugini, will become CEO.

FSI CEO Maurizio Tamagnini said in a statement that the GP had invested EUR 600m in the fintech sector in the past four years.

The growth strategy is to further penetrate the Italian market – which FSI says lags behind Europe in terms of digital payment processing – and work better with existing clients by extending product lines, as well as innovation and digitalisation.

The focus, at the moment, is to grow within Italy rather than look to international expansion.

Company
BCC Pay is the e-payment company of the BCC Iccrea group, with four million payment cards, 200,000 points of sale and about EUR 50bn in payment transactions per year.

Advisers
Vendor – Prometeia (technology due diligence); Legance (legal).
Equity – KPMG (financial due diligence); Gianni & Origoni (legal); Studio Biscozzi Nobili Piazza (tax).