The Italian government has already reviewed the transaction and informed both parties that it did not plan to block the deal using its so-called golden powers, the sources said, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
Golden power legislation allows Italy intervene in deals that involve sectors considered strategic, such as banking, energy, telecommunications or healthcare.
However, the cabinet office has asked to be informed should ION pledge shares or other Prelios' assets as collateral against bank financing the group raised to fund roughly half of the 1.35 billion euro ($1.4 billion) acquisition.
Such notification would trigger a new inquiry, possibly delaying the deal's conclusion, though ION's lawyers have questioned whether it was necessary and discussions were ongoing, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
ION declined to comment.
The banking software group, founded by Italian businessman Andrea Pignataro, agreed to buy Prelios from U.S. hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management in August 2023.
Discussions with lenders over the size and terms of the financing for the deal have dragged on for months, threatening to derail the acquisition at one point.
In 2021 ION acquired Italian banking software provider Cedacri in a deal valuing the firm at 1.5 billion euros and credit and data manager Cerved in a deal valued at 2 billion euros.
Since its introduction in 2012, successive Italian governments have used the golden powers regulation mainly to block Chinese and Russian forays into the country.
($1 = 0.9193 euros)
(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
