The board of directors of Italian payment technology services provider SIA has given the go-ahead to an initial public offering (IPO) of the company’s shares on the Milan stock exchange, confirming earlier reports. In a brief statement, the company said the board under the chairmanship of Federico Lovadina, approved the start-up of the process to list the its ordinary shares on the Borsa Italiana, expected to take place by summer 2020.
At the same time, the board also approved its 2020-2022 strategic plan, which aims to consolidate the company's international role with a view to becoming a leading in the digital payments sector. No further details were provided, with the company also reportedly eyeing a tie-up with payments rival Nexi.
SIA’s main shareholder is state lender CDP, whose CEO Fabrizio Palermo said in November that it had raised its stake to 83 percent to back the group’s efforts to take part in consolidation within the payments sector, adding that an IPO could help CDP to “extract the most value” from its stake ahead of possible merger deals.
