Italian payments processor Nexi is considering strategic options for its German buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) unit Ratepay, including a sale of the business, reported Bloomberg.
The unit is estimated to have a valuation of more than $1.1bn (€ 1bn), people with knowledge of the development told the news agency.
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Ratepay was acquired by Nexi as part of its acquisition of Nordic payments firm Nets, signed in 2020.
The unit enables online retailer business to offer a range of payment options to their customers, including BNPL.
According to the sources, the deliberations are currently underway, and no decisions have been finalised regarding the sale. They also added that firm may also decide to keep the business.
A spokesperson for Nexi did not comment on the news.
Meanwhile, Nexi reported ‘strong results and sustained volume growth’ for its full year earnings for 2021. The firm’s revenues increased 10% year-on-year to €2.27bn.
Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at €1.09bn, up 12.1% compared to the year before.
Recent deals by Nexi
In May, a report by Reuters said that Nexi is in talks to buy a stake in Greece-based Alpha Bank’s payment business.
In 2020, the firm signed a memorandum of understanding to buy rival payments provider SIA in an all-share deal worth €4.56bn.
In 2019, Nexi brokered a deal to purchase Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo’s retailers’ payment business in a €1bn deal.
The deal included the transfer of Intesa Sanpaolo merchant acquiring business consisting of 380,000 points of sale to a Nexi subsidiary.
