Exclusive: Eurazeo hires banks for $2.2 billion sale of payments firm Planet – sources

By Pamela Barbaglia and Arno Schuetze

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European buyout fund Eurazeo (PA:) has hired Citigroup (N:) and Evercore to prepare the sale of its payments business Planet in a deal that could value the Irish firm at up to 2 billion euros ($2.22 billion), three sources told Reuters.

Eurazeo wants to begin an auction process in March as it seeks to capitalize on a growing switch from cash to digital payments platforms across Europe, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Citi and Evercore won a contest in December to handle the sale which comes just days after U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake agreed to merge Planet’s rival Global Blue with Far Point.

Eurazeo declined to comment. Citi and Evercore were not available for immediate comment.

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