Largest IPO in Europe for 2019 is a Fintech Company’s

To say that Fintech is heating up around the world is an understatement. So far this year, the largest IPO in Europe was an Italian payment processor, Nexi, which raised over $2 billion. The Company received tremendous demand from investors across the globe and included 100 from Italy itself.

Nexi is perhaps one of the most significant fintech companies in Italy. It is a credit-card issuer and cash-machine manager, operating in merchant servicing, card payment and digital solutions. Nexi has partnerships with nearly 150 Italian banks and enjoys a 60% market share in card issuing.

Private equity firms Advent International, Bain Capital and Clessidra, were the existing backers behind the Company heading into the IPO. Proceeds from the IPO will go towards multiple uses including reducing debt, which currently amounts to $1.7 billion euros.

On its first day of trading on the Milan stock exchange, shares fell 6%. The IPO deal valued the company at 7.3 billion euros including debt. The pricing reflected an estimated 13 times enterprise value to EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) for 2020. This multiple is actually lower than comparable companies including Worldline and Network International which trade at 16 times.

Bank of America, Credit Suisse Group, Banca IMI, Goldman Sachs and Mediobanca were the joint global coordinators of the initial public offering.