Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) is opposing the payments group Nexi selling a majority stake in its digital banking solutions business to private equity firm TPG, Reuters reported, citing two people close to the matter. 

CDP, which holds a 19.14% stake in Nexi, is opposing a full divestment alongside senior Italian officials, considering the banking-services division as strategically important. 

Last week, Nexi received a proposal from TPG for several assets within the division that provides digital services to banks. 

TPG offered about €1bn ($1.16bn) for the assets, while Nexi said the bid was subject to conditions and did not disclose the offer value. 

Nexi’s division includes Italy’s national interbank network spanning more than 200,000km and linked to the Bank of Italy for settlement of banking transactions. 

It supplies technology for open banking, corporate banking services and interbank clearing systems. The unit generated core earnings of €155m last year. 

Nexi faces competitive pressure from fintech firms and instant payment platforms that have eroded market share and compressed margins, the report said. 

The company’s shares trade just above €4 ($4.6), valuing Nexi at almost €5bn ($5.8bn), down from a peak of over €20bn ($23.15bn) in July 2021. 

In a separate development, CDP, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the EU will launch the TERRA programme. 

TERRA aims to support lending for agrifood MSMEs in Africa and Türkiye, backed by an EU guarantee of up to €109.5m, with FAO providing technical assistance to local lenders. 

In March last year, CDP was reported as backing Italy’s fund with a €1bn ($1.09bn) initial investment to support artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives.