CDP to raise Nexi stake to 29.9% in Italy payments push

Italy’s state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti plans to lift its stake in Nexi SpA (NEXI.MI) to as much as 29.9 per cent from 19.14 per cent, tightening Rome’s grip on Europe’s largest digital payments processor and vaulting the government ahead of private-equity firm Hellman & Friedman as the company’s largest shareholder.

The move, disclosed by CDP’s investment arm CDP Equity on Monday, puts Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government on track to treat domestic payments infrastructure as strategic national capital, backing Nexi with state money while the sector grapples with competitive pressure and a depressed share price.

CDP, which currently holds 19.14 per cent of Nexi through CDP Equity, will acquire additional shares to reach up to 29.9 per cent, according to a Bloomberg report. The top-up would cost an estimated €400 million at current market prices and would lift CDP past Hellman & Friedman, which holds a roughly 22 per cent stake. Nexi shares closed Friday at €8.22, giving the Milan-based group a market value of about €4.12 billion.

The 29.9 per cent target sits one basis point below the 30 per cent threshold that would trigger a mandatory takeover offer under Italian securities law. CDP Equity explicitly ruled out a full bid. The state investor has been building its position since 2021, adding incrementally, but the latest increase — roughly 11 percentage points — is by far the largest single move.

CDP Equity believes in a strong industrial and innovative evolution for Nexi.

The statement, carried by Reuters, captures the industrial-policy logic behind the investment. CDP Equity CEO Fabio Barchiesi, appointed in October 2025, has made deepening the firm’s digital infrastructure footprint a priority, extending a portfolio already concentrated in energy grids, telecoms and transport into payments rails.

Banca Akros analysts Gabriele Venturi and Vincenzo Antonio Di Buono said CDP “is likely to continue gradually reinforcing its role and to play an increasingly active role in guiding Nexi’s strategic direction over time.”

The state backing lands at a tense moment for Nexi. The company processes €1.8 trillion ($2.1 trillion) in digital transactions across 25 countries. Its shares, though, have tumbled roughly 60 per cent from their 2022 highs as cloud-native competitors such as Adyen (ADYEN.AS) and Stripe squeezed margins and European consumer spending softened.

In March, Nexi replaced its chief executive, appointing Bernardo Mingrone to succeed Paolo Bertoluzzo after a strategy update that failed to convince investors.

Nexi shares rose as much as 5.8 per cent on the day of the announcement. That was their biggest intraday gain in two months. A state-anchored shareholder base, the market decided, offers stability in a consolidating European payments market.

The stake increase also pre-emptively blocks takeover interest. Reuters reported in April that CVC Capital Partners had weighed a bid for Nexi. The wider European payments sector has been consolidating rapidly — Worldline (WLN.PA), Nexi’s closest peer, has seen its own share price collapse amid similar competitive headwinds. By anchoring Nexi within state-backed ownership just below the mandatory-offer threshold, Rome has drawn a line around the company without having to mount a full buyout.

For CDP, the investment continues a pattern of state intervention in strategically sensitive infrastructure. The lender already controls Open Fiber, Italy’s largest wholesale fibre network, and holds significant stakes in energy-grid operator Terna (TRN.MI) and gas-grid operator Snam (SRG.MI). Adding Europe’s largest payments processor to that portfolio pushes Rome’s definition of strategic infrastructure beyond physical networks — into the digital pipes that move money.