Bulletin: It Is Too Early To Assess How Italy-Based Nexi's IPO Application Announcement Will Affect The Rating

MILAN (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 19, 2019--S&P Global Ratings said today that it is waiting for more information regarding the Italian payment services company Nexi SpA's IPO, whose application it publicly announced on Feb. 15, 2019. The IPO, which we expect to complete over the next few months, marks the first phase of the possible exit from Nexi's private equity sponsors' M&A transactions. These began in 2015 with the acquisition of Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane. We do not yet have enough visibility on the post-IPO shareholding composition or on whether management intends to use part of the IPO proceeds to reduce outstanding debt. These considerations are important as they could moderately improve our view of Nexi's financial risk

...MILAN (S&P Global Ratings) Feb. 19, 2019--S&P Global Ratings said today that it is waiting for more information regarding the Italian payment services company Nexi SpA's IPO, whose application it publicly announced on Feb. 15, 2019. The IPO, which we expect to complete over the next few months, marks the first phase of the possible exit from Nexi's private equity sponsors' M&A transactions. These began in 2015 with the acquisition of Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane. We do not yet have enough visibility on the post-IPO shareholding composition or on whether management intends to use part of the IPO proceeds to reduce outstanding debt. These considerations are important as they could moderately improve our view of Nexi's financial risk profile, and possibly lead us to take a rating action. We view the company's current private equity ownership as a rating constraint due to the owners' tolerance for high leverage. Under a more diverse ownership, we could adjust our view of...

Bulletin