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Here are the accounts and business of Pignataro (Ion), the new owner of Cedacri

Here are the accounts and business of Pignataro (Ion), the new owner of Cedacri

Ion Investment: who is and what does the English group of Pignataro, which will be the new majority shareholder of Cedacri, the Italian company specializing in IT outsourcing services for the banking sector. The article by Emanuela Rossi

Andrea Pignataro, an emerging Italian entrepreneur in international fintech, has conquered the Cedacri fort, the Italian company specializing in IT outsourcing services for the banking sector. . The former trader has defeated important rivals with the British fund ION Investment Group , which he owns, which in the last decade has scored major hits worldwide.

HOW WAS THE GAME ON CEDACRI

The indiscretions come from La Repubblica which two days ago highlighted how, thanks to an evaluation equal to three times the revenues, or 1.5 billion euros, Pignataro managed to get his hands on the Cedacri consortium and got the better of American multinational Accenture, which was given as a favorite, and on the Roman company Engineering, controlled by private equity firms Bain Capital and Nb Renaissance. In this way Ion Investment would aim to make the software company for banks 27% owned by FSI I, a fund created by Maurizio Tamagnini, the top for the financial services pole that Pignataro is building thanks to the Ion Investment operating arm.

THE SCENARIO OF CEDACRI WITH ION

"Now with the new acquisition of Cedacri the goal is the further development of the company, already today one of the largest Italian fintech groups after the giant Nexi-Sia – Il Sole 24 Ore wrote today – Ion investment aims to accelerate its growth thanks to also to synergies with the rest of the group. Cedacri's goal, together with Ion, is to become one of the European leaders in the fintech sector and platforms for the banking system ”.

WHO IS ANDREA PIGNATARO

Born in Bologna, 50 years old, Pignataro is little known outside the specialized markets, Mf wrote weeks ago, and from London they confirm that "he has always maintained a very low profile". Before founding Ion Investment Group 22 years ago, he was a bond trader at the Solomon Brothers investment bank. "Those who have had anything to do with him – writes the economic-financial newspaper – describe him as a motivated, determined and resolute person, and some people who have worked with him have portrayed him as 'a workaholic 24 hours a day' ". He lives in a house of his own in Belgravia, an elegant central London neighborhood, and in 2017 he made himself known for his direct involvement in a real estate development in Canouan, a Caribbean island that is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Also according to Mf , Pignataro has invested in a luxury estate that he is looking to transform into an exclusive trendy resort. Exactly two years ago thanks to a newco based in Dublin, Kojima Limited, set up with Conor Clinch and Ashley Woods, two other managers of Ion Investment, he instead bought 58.5% of Macron, the Bolognese company that produces clothing sports technician and who in the current Italian Serie A championship has become a reference brand by dressing the teams of Bologna, Hellas Verona, Lazio, Sampdoria and Udinese.

WHAT IS IT AND WHAT IT DOES ION INVESTMENT GROUP

As Carlo Festa recalled days ago on his blog , Ion Investment Group is based in London and specializes in software, data and analysis for financial institutions. Since 1999, the year in which it was founded, it has made numerous acquisitions, often leveraged. Since 2004, he has conducted 26 acquisitions for a total enterprise value of $ 10 billion and in 2019 bought Acuris from BC Partners and Gic. This financial news company is headed by information and data providers such as Mergermarket and Debtwire Mergermarket, Debtwire, Unquote and Asia Venture Capital Journal. In 2017, however, along with Carlyle, Ion had recapitalized Dealogic, which provides data on the international market for mergers and acquisitions.

The latest acquisition, for an unknown amount and which the British Competition and Markets Authority gave the green light on 10 November, is that of Broadway Technology, a software and applications company in the financial field.

But how does Ion work? It employs permanent capital and invests only in fintech, “with a very focused approach on product and technology, considered the true sources of sustainable comparative advantage”. In fact, it “operates with the logic of private equity, acting with the speed and flexibility typical of these investors”. Unlike private equity, however, the Pignataro group invests in its subsidiaries by operating "profound transformations in such a way as to allow to rethink the business model and the product portfolio of the companies in order to be better positioned to seize the opportunities offered by the progressive digitization of the company. 'economy".

According to Mf , Ion Investment serves more than 7,500 clients worldwide and generated revenues of over $ 1.9 billion in 2019. In addition, it owns and manages a global portfolio of software and data solutions for managing the processes of financial institutions, central banks and corporations that power the functioning of the international capital market. From 2017 to today, Ion's Irish parent company has paid dividends of € 195 million to entities controlled by Pignataro.

It should be remembered that Ion listed on the Nasdaq the spac ScION Tech Growth I of which Pignataro is executive president and Mathew Cestar, who previously held the role of Co-Head Investment Banking and Capital Markets in EMEA at Credit Suisse, is CEO and director . ScION Tech Growth I aims to sell 50 million shares at a price of $ 10 each or $ 500 million. Each unit will consist of a portion of common stock and a third of a warrant, exercisable for $ 11.50. This is a structure similar to that of the spac promoted by Investindustrial and listed on the NYSE in December. Proceeds from the listing of ScION Tech Growth I will be used to invest in technology, software and fintech companies with strong market position, leading products and global development potential.


This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/ecco-conti-e-affari-di-pignataro-ion-nuovo-proprietario-di-cedacri/ on Fri, 05 Mar 2021 05:49:42 +0000.