Earthquake in the world of payment. Natixis, the listed subsidiary of investment, financing and insurance the group’s mutual banking BPCE (Banque populaire Caisse d’epargne) is considering a merger with Ingenico, a great French manufacturer of banking terminals, and a specialist in online payment.
It is at this stage that “preliminary discussions” says the bank, which confirmed on Thursday, October 11, in a press release, ” its interest to explore the logic of a rapprochement industrial of its payment activities with those of the group Ingenico “.
Natixis has new margins of manoeuvre. She announced last month the sale of its business of financing specialized (valued € 2.7 billion) to its central body, BPCE SA.
In parallel, Natixis has notified that it had 2.5 billion euros to invest, over the term of the strategic plan, primarily in the asset management business, but also in the payment. That would not redeem all of the group Ingenico, in which the action took off Thursday morning at the Paris stock Exchange, earning more than 11 % in 10 hours, and thus turning the group to 4.47 billion euros.
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Brands of interest on the part of investment funds
The transaction is not closed, provided that Ingenico has specified the subject ” approaches preliminary “. Other candidates came forward. In June, Bloomberg spoke of the marks of interest from investment funds, such as CVC Capital Partners or Bain Capital.
According to our information, Ingenico has been striving for a time how to write the result of its history. It was not his desire to attract a partner, whether it’s a fund, a bank or a family office (funds in family).
The French company, which completed in 2017 with a turnover of 2.5 billion euros in Ebitda (equivalent of gross operating income) of $ 526 million euros, had also published forecasts disappointing for 2018. The valuation, which still stood at 7 billion in 2015, at a time when he had tried to redeem Worldpay, has decreased significantly.
Investors wonder about the future of payment terminals, while digital payment is growing at full speed, and that the sector is facing a wave of concentration without precedent. Ingenico has also made huge efforts to rebalance its business towards digital, which represents 48 % of its turnover. Las ! The market value of the first actors in a ” 100 % digital “in the image of Adyen, floated on a valuation of 14 billion euros.
