Apax-led consortium drops out of auction for Italy's Cedacri -sources (updated)
25/11/2020 20:56
(New throughout, adds detail on bidders, valuation)
By Pamela Barbaglia and Elisa Anzolin
LONDON/MILAN, Nov 25 (Reuters) - A consortium of buyout fund
Apax and digital services firm Reply has dropped out of the
auction process for Italian banking software firm Cedacri, two
sources told Reuters, leaving three bidders vying for control of
the 44-year old business.
IT consultancy Accenture ACN.N and Italian IT services
provider Engineering, backed by Bain Capital, submitted rival
bids for Cedacri ahead of a mid-November deadline and have
progressed to the second stage of the auction, the sources said,
speaking on condition of anonymity as the matter is private.
Dublin-based software and financial-data provider ION, led
by Italian businessman Andrea Pignataro, is the third bidder
left in the process, the sources said.
The company, which provides anything from banking solutions,
cloud services, big data and advanced analytics to over 70
banks, has been valued at more than 1 billion euros ($1.19
billion), representing a multiple in excess of 10 times its core
earnings of about 100 million euros, the sources said.
Cedacri and the bidders declined to comment.
Discussions with Accenture, Engineering and ION are expected
to gain momentum in the coming weeks, the sources said, as when
bidders will be able to perform due diligence on the business,
based in the northern Italian town of Parma.
Private equity fund Apax had teamed up with Reply REY.MI
to provide industry expertise but its bid failed to progress,
the sources said.
Cedacri, which is advised by Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE , aims
to wrap up the process before the end of the year but a deadline
for final offers has yet to be set and the negotiations may slip
into January, the sources said.
The company, led by boss Corrado Sciolla, is backed by
Italian state-backed fund FSI, with a 27% stake, and by another
14 financial institutions including Unipol UNPI.MI and Banca
Mediolanum BMED.MI .
Its investors hope to take advantage of whopping valuations
for fintech assets and could receive binding offers valuing the
company at between 1 and 1.5 billion euros, the sources said.
($1 = 0.8388 euros)
(Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia and Elisa Anzolin; Edited by
Kirsten Donovan and David Gregorio)
((pamela.barbaglia@thomsonreuters.com; +442075427723; Reuters
Messaging: pamela.barbaglia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))