“Ingenico, the French payments group that has been the subject of intense merger speculation, has appointed a new chief executive as it aims to arrest a slide in its share price.
The company said on Monday that long-serving boss Philippe Lazare would step down as both chairman and chief executive, and that the two jobs would be separated.
Bernard Bourigeaud, the founder of IT company Atos, is to become chairman while Nicolas Huss, who had been chief operating officer and head of Visa Europe, is to become chief executive.”
By David Keohane in Paris NOVEMBER 5, 2018
FINANCIAL TIMES
Nicolas Huss and Gérard Nebouy of Visa Europe in the Safran showroom in Paris.
Ingenico appoints Nicolas Huss as new chief executive
Decision reignites merger speculation around French payments group
Ingenico, the French payments group that has been the subject of intense merger speculation, has appointed a new chief executive as it aims to arrest a slide in its share price.
The company said on Monday that long-serving boss Philippe Lazare would step down as both chairman and chief executive, and that the two jobs would be separated.
Bernard Bourigeaud, the founder of IT company Atos, is to become chairman while Nicolas Huss, who had been chief operating officer and head of Visa Europe, is to become chief executive.
Ingenico’s shares gained 2.5 per cent, in part due to suggestions the management changes could provide fresh deal impetus following last month’s news that French bank Natixis was exploring a €4bn-plus tie-up.
Mr Huss told the Financial Times that while Ingenico was open to a deal in the future, he was focused on driving internal change. “If some partners are interested we would be very happy to look at [a joint venture] …but only if there is added value in putting together our assets. It’s all about growing the company.”
Ingenico, which has a market capitalisation of €4.3bn, has been the subject of takeover speculation since it made a failed £6.6bn approach for Worldpay ahead of its UK rival’s flotation in 2015.
Natixis has been considering merging its payments assets with Ingenico, according to people close to the bank, hoping that this will prompt a reappraisal of what it considers to be its own undervalued payments business.
A deal would be the latest sign of the intense competition in European payments, although some analysts played down the likelihood that the management changes at Ingenico would lead to an imminent deal.
“While the CEO change likely doesn’t preclude a sale, we suspect that it makes it less likely in the near-term,” said Josh Levin at Citi. “Our guess is that the new CEO will want to take a shot at fixing what ails Ingenico in order to create shareholder value, and that the board will be inclined to give him the time to do [so].”
