Investing.com — stock rallied nearly 5.0% to trade at €3.549 after Italy’s state investment vehicle CDP Equity announced it intends to significantly expand its position in the digital payments company.
Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA disclosed plans to raise its stake in Nexi to as much as 29.9%, backing the Italian digital payment company’s long-term strategy. CDP Equity’s board approved the procedures needed to increase the stake, including the subscription of derivative contracts tied to 8% of Nexi’s share capital, with the move aimed at supporting shareholding stability — and notably, CDP Equity stated it does not intend to launch a takeover offer.
The decision came after private equity funds Advent and Bain Capital exited Nexi’s shareholder register on May 12, leaving a gap in the ownership structure that CDP Equity is now moving to fill. Analysts at Equita described the increase in CDP’s stake as “a supportive element for the stock,” though they maintained their Hold recommendation.
The move is the first major initiative by Fabio Barchiesi since he was named CEO of CDP Equity, as he seeks to strengthen the state-backed investor’s influence over a company considered strategic for Italy while supporting efforts to build a European digital payments infrastructure less dependent on US providers.
The stock-specific catalyst was further amplified by a broadly positive market backdrop, as sentiment was buoyed by concrete progress in US-Iran negotiations. European stock markets, including Milan’s Piazza Affari, opened higher on the day, with the CDP move reinforcing confidence in Nexi’s long-term ownership stability and industrial direction. Competitor Worldline also operates in the same European payments infrastructure space, though no comparable ownership news emerged for peers today.
Taken together, the combination of a high-profile state investor signaling a long-term commitment to Nexi — effectively anchoring the shareholder base after recent institutional exits — alongside a constructive European equity environment, provided a powerful dual tailwind. The initiative is widely seen as a strategic move to strengthen Italy’s influence in European digital payment infrastructure, lending the stock a degree of political and institutional backing that investors have responded to positively during today’s session.
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