Sabadell agrees to sell payments arm to Nexi for up to $370 million

By Jesús Aguado and Valentina Za

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish bank Sabadell said on Monday it had agreed to sell its retailers' payments business to Nexi for up to about 350 million euros ($370 million), and struck a 10-year partnership with the Italian payments firm.

Under the deal, Nexi will buy 80% of Paycomet, Sabadell's payments subsidiary, for 280 million euros, with the Spanish lender retaining a 20% stake for at least three years.

"After that period, Banco Sabadell will have an option to sell its 20% stake and, as such, the total transaction amount has been fixed at 350 million euros and may be increased depending on the achievement of objectives," Sabadell said, confirming a Reuters report from earlier this month.

Nexi prevailed over rival Worldline, sources said then.

The business that handles shopowners' payments is a source of stable income for banks, but the need for hefty investments has prompted an increasing number of banks to dispose of all or part of their payments operations.

The sale is expected to add 14 basis points to Sabadell's best quality capital ratio when it closes in the fourth quarter, the lender said.

With the deal, Nexi will come to handle transactions worth around 48 billion euros for more than 380,000 Spanish shopowners, adding around 30 million euros of core profit based on 2023 data, it said.

The sale is at an enterprise value for the unit of 11.5 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Barclays advised Sabadell. Rothschild and Jefferies were financial advisers to Nexi which also worked with BCG, KPMG and Allen & Overy.

($1 = 0.9471 euros)

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado in Madrid and Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Mark Potter)