Private equity group CVC is considering a bid to take Milan-listed payments company Nexi private in a deal that would value the group at approximately EUR 9 billion, including around EUR 6 billion in debt. The approach, which has been explored twice before, in 2015 and again in 2023, comes as Nexi's share price has declined by roughly 65% over the past four years, reflecting sustained pressure on European payments groups to reduce fees, alongside contract renegotiations and intensifying competition from fintech rivals.
Political sensitivity and Italy's golden power rules
Any transaction faces significant political obstacles. Under Italy's 'golden power' framework, which covers strategically important assets including banking infrastructure, the Italian government retains the right to block foreign acquisitions of entities deemed nationally significant. CVC has indicated it would not proceed with a formal offer unless Rome signalled support for the deal. A person familiar with the firm's deliberations described the current state of negotiations as 'entirely political at this point'.
To address these concerns, CVC's plan would involve carving out Nexi's digital banking solutions segment and transferring it to an Italian state-backed investor, with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) cited as a potential recipient. CDP is currently Nexi's second-largest shareholder. However, the state fund does not appear supportive of a full delisting of Nexi, and Italian officials have indicated that restructuring the group, rather than a change of ownership, is the preferred outcome.
Nexi's shareholder structure and operating divisions
Nexi's largest shareholder is Hellman & Friedman, the US-based buyout group that became a major investor when Nexi merged with payments rival Nets in 2020. Hellman & Friedman is not currently in talks with CVC or any advisers regarding a potential transaction but has indicated it would respond to a formal offer if one emerged.
Nexi operates across three segments. Its merchant solutions division provides payment services for physical and online retailers and accounted for close to 60% of the group's EUR 3.6 billion in revenues in 2025. The issuing solutions arm partners with financial institutions to issue payment cards. The digital banking solutions segment, which CVC's proposed structure would transfer to a state-backed entity, is the smallest of the three. Under CVC's envisaged plan, the remaining business would be repositioned as a software company.
Recent developments at Nexi
Nexi's decline has been compounded by the reversal of investor sentiment that followed its rapid expansion phase in 2020, when the group completed acquisitions of Italian payments providers Sia and Nets. What had previously been viewed as a cash-generative business model came under pressure as the consolidation strategy ran into fee compression and competitive headwinds.
In a further indication of the company's shifting strategic direction, Nexi's chief executive stepped down after a decade in the role and was replaced by the group's chief financial officer in what the company described as a 'new phase of development'. The company also declined a EUR 1 billion offer from US-based private equity group TPG to acquire the digital banking division separately.
