MADRID, February 14 (Reuters) – The Spanish BBVA BBVA.MC announced on Monday that it had agreed to buy an additional 21.7% stake in Neon Payments for approximately $300 million after participating in a capital raise.
After the subscription, BBVA will directly and indirectly own approximately 29.7% of Neon Payments, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom and which owns 100% of the Brazilian company Neon Pagamentos.
The bank, which already indirectly held a 10.2% stake in Neon, plans to complete the deal later this month.
Like banks across Europe, Spanish lenders have turned to other profitable sources of lending, such as payments, in a bid to boost profits as rock-bottom interest rates squeeze margins financial.
BBVA’s transaction is part of its digital strategy to drive growth through new businesses.
The subscription for the shares will fully reach its fully loaded Tier 1 common equity of approximately 10 basis points.
(Report by Jesús Aguado, edited by Inti Landauro)
((jesus.aguado@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 835 68 32; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: jesus.aguado.reuters.com@reuters.net))
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