Italy-based Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) has agreed to divest its merchant acquiring business to Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane (ICBPI) for €520m.
The two parties also signed a ten-year partnership as part of the deal.
“The transaction, in line with the guidelines of the 2016-2019 Business Plan which was presented to the market on 25 October 2016, also provides for BMPS and ICBPI, through its subsidiary CartaSì S.p.A., to enter into a ten-year partnership for the development and placement through BMPS Group’s distribution network of products and payment services for current and prospective BMPS Group customers,” BMPS said.
BMPS manages the merchant acquiring business by distributing its products and services to nearly 100,000 customers through around 2,100 branches across Italy. The business processed a total transaction volume of €17bn last year, including 60% in points-of-sale run by large retailers and 40% with SMEs.
The deal is subject to satisfaction of mandatory union legal and contractual procedures and approvals from the Bank of Italy and antitrust authorities.