S&P maintains Nexi rating on CreditWatch Positive following agreed merger with Nets
S&P has announced that it is maintaining the rating of Nexi SpA (BIT:NEXI) on CreditWatch Positive following agreed merger with Nets.
On November 15, 2020, Nexi SpA and Denmark-based Nets A/S announced that they have signed a binding framework agreement for all-share merger of Nets into Nexi, S&P explains. The announcement follows that released on October 5, 2020, when Nexi announced that it had agreed to merge with Italy-based SIA SpA.
The potential combination of Nets and Nexi would establish a leading European player in the digital payments landscape, to serve as a “one-stop-shop” to a wide range of customers. The combined company would benefit from an expanded and diversified geographic reach, broader product and services portfolio, enhanced exposure to eCommerce and lower customer concentration.
Over the past three years, under Hellman & Friedman’s ownership, Nets has undergone significant transformation and investments resulting in accelerated growth of its core business, both organically and through strategic M&A, including Concardis Payment Group, Dotpay/eCard, P24, and PeP.
S&P believes the group resulting from the two mergers would have significantly greater geographic and product diversification compared with Nexi as a stand-alone entity. S&P is maintaining its ‘BB-‘ issuer and issue ratings on Nexi on CreditWatch with positive implications.
S&P notes that it intends to resolve the CreditWatch once it has confirmation that the parties involved in the two transactions have finalized the merger agreements and received shareholder, regulatory, and antitrust approvals.