Ion, Pignataro accelerates on software, data and banking investments: the investments of the Bolognese entrepreneur
Over the past three years, the group Iondriven by Andrea Pignatarocarried out the more significant investments in Italy, amounting to 5.7 billion of euros in the acquisition of companies operating in the manufacturing sector software, data, analysis and banking investments. This group, which also features minority shareholders who have so far remained discreet, manages an extensive database in collaboration with companies such as Cerved, Cedacri and the last entry, Prelios. This information comes from an economic report published on Courier.
The 53-year-old fintech entrepreneur, originally from Bologna but with an English passport, currently resides in St. Moritz with a domicile in Milan. Pignataro invested a significant amount, equal to 50 million euros, to obtain 2% of the shares of Mps and became a 9.496% shareholder Illimity Bank by Corrado Passera, investing around 80 million euros. Afterwards, he focused his attention on the Volterra Savings Bank, of which his group was already a client with a 32% stake. At the moment, it seems that Pignataro is evaluating the possibility of acquiring the Bologna-based consultancy company Prometheia, which recorded revenues of 122 million euros and a profit of 11 million euros. It is not excluded that preliminary talks have been started regarding this operation.
The Ion group is known for its confidentiality, operating almost like a family business that prefers to maintain low media exposure. However, the group counts among its clients governments, as well as 30% of the world’s central banks, as well as around two thousand of the most important global companies, including well-known names such as Amazon, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Daimler. We acquired information on the group while following the Prelios operation, which made it possible to “deforest” the structure of Ion Capital Partners, the Irish-based lead company of its Italian activities. During this operation, a series of surprises emerged.
READ ALSO: Pignataro expands its Italian galaxy: Prelios acquired for 1.35 billion
In an official statement released on August 11 last year, it was announced the agreement relating to the acquisition of Prelios, which operates in the asset management, credit servicing and real estate services sectors. However, attention has been focused on the legal and financial details of the operation, including those of the “X3“, which in reality does not exist. The agreement was signed by X3G Mergeco spa, a technical company that will manage an investment of 1.35 billion euros, of which 600 million in debt. At the moment, the operation is not yet concluded, as there are no authorizations from the antitrust authorities, the Bank of Italy and, apparently, also the Presidency of the Council of Ministers regarding the special powers linked to the golden power. This shows how interested the Ion group is to public interests and not only those linked to B2B business. The closing of the transaction is expected to take place between December and January.
Meanwhile, the Ion Group has already entered Prelios in its portfolio on the website, although it does not provide detailed financial data on any of the group’s 380 companies. But how was this agreement made by Pignataro? The structure is complex, involving a number of companies, many of which are based in Ireland and Luxembourg, ultimately leading to Andrea Pignataro. The central node where Italian investments intersect, including banks, is represented by Fermion in Ireland. In addition to the 85.7% owned by Ion, there are other investors, including the Singapore sovereign fund GIC with 10%, the Milanese Serfis of the Strazzera family, Nanni Bassani Antivari, Kenneth Schiciano and the group’s top managers Luca Peyrano and Kunal Gullapalli. However, many of these investments do not have up-to-date financial data, as laws in Ireland and Luxembourg allow extended maturities. Some of the companies issuing bonds and directly involved with investors regularly provide quarterly results, but they are only a small part of the 380 companies in the Ion group.
At the moment, there is no information available on the 2022 budget of the Ion Investment Corporation, which controls the five investment platforms, including Ion Capital Partners, which supervises the activities in Italy. The latter’s financial statements are closed to 2021 and were approved in January 2023 and certified by EY in February 2023. This means that no updated financial data is available for the following 13-month period. Furthermore, one of the group’s companies, Dgb Bidco of Dublin, has never presented financial statements since its creation in 2020, but owns companies such as Cedacri and has been authorized by the Bank of Italy to hold 32% of Cassa Volterra, which has both Cedacri and Cerved among its strategic partners and suppliers. Furthermore, Maurizio Tamagnini’s FSI holds 9% and 7% of the shares of DGB and the vehicle above Cerved respectively.
An analysis of the numbers aggregate data provided unofficially by the group indicates that total revenues amount to approximately 3 billion euros, EBITDA is 2.2 billion euros and debt reaches 10 billion euros. Excluding Prelios, Italy represents, according to the financial statements of Cerved and Cedacri, one billion euros in turnover and 365 million euros in EBITDA. However, it seems that the EBITDA relating to the remaining 2 billion of revenues outside Italy is lower by around 7-800 million euros, or around a billion euros. This suggests that Ion’s business is highly profitable, supported by top-tier customers and €2 billion in top-of-chain liquidity. This constitutes a guarantee both for bond buyers, including major asset managers, and for banks that hold numerous assets as collateral, such as Cerved and Cedacri, together with some of Ion’s bank accounts.
The only one clear and complete overview of the debt it is available until 2020, with an amount of 7.5 billion euros, and was contained in the balance sheets of Ion Investment Group, which was subsequently liquidated and the debt was redistributed among the main subsidiaries, which negotiated new conditions . Last year, around 8 billion in debt was renegotiated with maturities reaching up to 2028, and Euribor and Libor spreads fluctuate between 4% and 5%.
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