MADRID (Reuters) -Italian payments group Nexi no longer has any commitment or obligation to buy Sabadell’s retailers’ payments unit, but is open to discussing a possible future deal on different terms, its CEO said on Wednesday.
Sabadell had postponed the completion of the sale after becoming the target of a hostile takeover by BBVA, which last month failed, ending an almost 18-month battle.
“We have no commitment whatsoever any longer across the two of us because this was an old deal that was happening in old market conditions… there is no obligation any longer among the two parties,” CEO Paolo Bertoluzzo told analysts in a call on Wednesday.
Nexi is still interested in doing something with Sabadell, but on “completely new terms,” he added.
Sabadell declined to comment.
In February of 2023, Sabadell agreed to sell its payments subsidiary Paycomet to Nexi for potentially up to about 350 million euros ($370 million).
In a first step, Nexi was to buy 80% of Paycomet for 280 million euros, with the Spanish lender retaining a 20% stake for at least three years. The agreement also included a 10-year partnership with the Italian payments firm.
(Reporting Laura Contemori in Gdansk, Jesús Aguado in Madrid and Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Conor Humphries)
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