FSI Acquires 42.3% of SIA

Fondo Strategico Italiano (FSI) has signed a binding contract to purchase 42.3% of SIA Spa (SIA) for an investment of approximately €204m, in addition to €77m in debt financing.

FSI signed the binding contract in partnership with F2i SGR and Orizzonte SGR, which will purchase 10.3% and 6.7% of SIA respectively. The consortium will acquire a total of 59.3% of SIA from Intesa San Paolo, Unicredit, Monte dei Paschi di Siena and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. Banca Intesa e Unicredit will remain shareholders of the company with a total 8% interest, while Monte dei Paschi di Siena and Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, whose interests will be purchase by F2i, will exit the capital of SIA.

The transaction values for 100% of SIA equity at €765m, corresponding to approximately eight times 2013 expected normalised EBITDA. Closing of the transaction is subject to clearance from Bank of Italy and antitrust authority.

SIA manages approximately 69 million payment cards and processes approximately 30 billion payments and capital markets transactions per year. The company operates several services for financial institutions, central banks and public administration.