All Access

Fintech Deals

Standard

Fintech Deals Alerts

Alert

Fintech Deals Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

mustard

BFD Expert Voices - Private Credit

BFD Expert Voices

Data: S&P Capital IQ; Chart: Axios Visuals

Shares of Italian payments company Nexi surged roughly 13% in trading in Milan today, amid news that CVC Capital Partners is weighing a potential bid for the company, Lucinda writes.

Why it matters: Payments has remained a hot space for mergers, acquisitions and spinouts, with Nexi being a major acquirer.

Yes, but: The stockholder enthusiasm is somewhat overwrought. CVC is reportedly only weighing a bid, per Bloomberg, with no certainty one will be forthcoming — nor at what price.

The company is now valued at roughly €8.6 billion ($9 billion), with shares down about 29% in the last year.

Between the lines: It's thought that eventually Nexi will have to strike some  deal to give an exit to its private equity investors, which include Hellman & Friedman, Advent International and Bain Capital.

An Italian government-controlled lender, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, holds a roughly 13.5% stake in the business — and under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the government has favored "domestic buyers over foreign interests," per Bloomberg.

CVC eyes Nexi, though no bid in play

1 big thing: Private equity eyes Nexi

NCR completed its split into two publicly traded companies, with one focused on commerce and digital banking and the other comprising its global ATM business, Ryan writes.

Why it's the BFD: The move highlights the divestment trend, as financial services firms and fintechs seek to simplify their pitch to investors.

What's happening: NCR Corp. rebranded its digital commerce business as NCR Voyix, which is now trading on the NYSE under the ticker "VYX."

Meanwhile, the ATM business now operates independently as NCR Atleos and began trading yesterday under the NYSE ticker "NATL."

Details: Shareholders received one share of NCR Atleos stock for every two shares of NCR Corp. stock they held.

Context: The ATM unit spinoff had been a long time coming, with NCR initially announcing plans to split into two publicly traded companies over a year ago.

Those plans picked up steam over the summer, as the company filed a registration statement with the ATM unit's business and growth strategy, as well as a slate of executive leaders.

Between the lines: The separation was intended to attract new investors who might have been uninterested in NCR due to its complexity. 

The board also expected the spinoff to eliminate some "competition for capital inherent" in NCR's previous business structure.

Of note: Investors seemed bullish on the ATM business during its first day of trading, driving NCR Atleos shares up 4.1% on the day, closing at $21.34.

State of play: NCR isn't alone in divesting non-core businesses in an effort to reduce corporate complexity and increase shareholder value. 

In July, FIS announced plans to sell a majority stake in WorldPay, unwinding its 2019 acquisition of the payments business. It had originally planned to spin Worldpay out as a publicly traded company.

More recently, Goldman Sachs unwound its 2021 acquisition of specialty lending firm GreenSky by selling it to a consortium of investors led by Sixth Street.

NCR completes ATM spinout

2. The BFD: NCR completes ATM spinout

Illustration of an atm machine surrounded by a growing pile of money.  

Sendwave's operator, Chime, must refund consumers nearly $1.5 million in fees and pay a $1.5 million penalty. Wholly owned by WorldRemit, the firm put illegal fines into the fine print of contracts of customers sending money overseas, the CFPB says.

More women come forward with mistreatment claims at Carta (Fortune)

Carta has been at the center of an unusually high number of lawsuits from women, claiming mistreatment and discrimination.

3. Credit score

Illustration of a referee's hand holding a whistle and a red card that says "credit score."

Want more fintech deals? Check out the Axios Pro Deals Tracker beta.

• Nirvana Insurance, a San Francisco-based insurer of commercial truck fleets, raised $57m in Series B funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led and was joined by General Catalyst and Valor Equity Partners. https://axios.link/48XuJ8t

• Globacap, a London-based startup focused on digitizing and automating private capital markets, raised $21m in Series B finding from Moore Strategic Ventures, Cboe Global Markets, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, GABI Ventures and QBN Capital. www.globacap.com 

• Darwinium, a San Francisco-based fraud detection startup, raised $18m in Series A funding. U.S. Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Blackbird, Airtree Ventures and Accomplice. https://axios.link/3Q4u1xN

• Statement, a New York-based financial management platform for businesses, raised $12m in seed funding. Glilot Capital Partners led, with participation from Citi, Mensch Capital Partners, Titan Capital and Operator Partners. www.statement.io

• Flanks, a Barcelona-based API for automated wealth services, raised $8m in Series A funding. Earlybird VC led, joined by JME Ventures and 4Founders Capital. https://axios.link/3Q3z0yy

• Mon Petit Placement, a French investing startup, raised €6.5m. Investors included La France Mutualiste. https://axios.link/3Qlbxdw

• Hiive, a Vancouver-based marketplace to buy and sell shares of privately held companies, raised $4.2m in funding at a $77m valuation. Uncorrelated Ventures led and was joined by Splash Capital, Harmony Venture Partners, Hack VC, Agmen Capital and Laplanche. https://axios.link/3M51ln5

• Basis, a New York-based AI platform for accounting firms, raised a $3.6m seed round led by Better Tomorrow Ventures, with participation from Box Group and Avid Ventures. www.ofbasis.com

• Auquan, a London-based data science platform for financial services, raised $3.5m in seed funding led by Neotribe Ventures. www.auquan.com

• Lanes & Planes, a German corporate travel booking and billing company, raised $3m in Series B funding. Smash Capital led the round and was joined by Battery Ventures, Coparion, DN Capital and Allron. https://axios.link/3S4sPgl

• CPSI (NASDAQ: CPSI) acquired Viewgol, an ambulatory revenue cycle management company for about $36m in cash and $31.5m in potential payouts. https://axios.link/3ZXrSbL

• BitGo, a Palo Alto, California-based crypto portfolio management and corporate treasury platform, acquired HeightZero, which gives financial advisers tools to manage digital asset exposure on behalf of their clients. https://axios.link/3Qkv1Pr

4. Deals!

• Lorenz Jüngling, currently COO and CFO, has been named co-CEO at Moonfare, alongside founder, chairman and current CEO Steffen Pauls. www.moonfare.com

• Rachel Fairhurst has been appointed as vice president of credit risk and client success and Jakub Piotrowski has been named vice president of product at Bud Financial. https://axios.link/3ZXyxmh

• Ashlyn Roberts joined the government relations team of the National Venture Capital Association. She previously was with the Small Business Roundtable. www.nvca.org

5. It's personnel

A highlight of Axios Crypto's in-depth coverage and analysis of the ongoing trial in lower Manhattan, Brady Dale has provided amazing courtroom sketches for Axios Crypto throughout the trial. 

Stay on top of the trial by subscribing to Axios Crypto

Catch up on Crystal Kim and Brady's previous coverage (and sketches).

6. One fun thing: Axios Crypto's court sketches

Sketch of Nishah Singh testifying in federal court while Sam Bankman-Fried listens.

Nishad Singh testifies Monday in federal court while Sam Bankman-Fried listens. Drawing: Brady Dale/Axios

🤝 Situational awareness: Plaid has named Eric Hart as its first CFO. He was previously CFO of Expedia.

💤 @Ryan is off today, probably reveling in that Phillies win.

 🗓️ @Lucinda sees that Wednesday has become the new Tuesday. 

Thanks to George Moriarty and Rob Reinalda for today's edits.

And thanks to you for reading. Please tell your fintech friends about this newsletter. They can sign up here.

October 18, 2023

1 big thing: Private equity eyes Nexi