The share price of Monte dei Paschi
di Siena (MPS) soared on Thursday after fellow lender Banco BPM
acquired a 5% stake in it, sparking hot speculation that a
merger could be on the cards.
MPS's stock was up by over 12% at the middle of the day's
trading.
Banco BPM bought the stake as the Italian Treasury sold MPS off
15% of the world's oldest bank on Wednesday.
The Treasury took control of MPS in a 2017 bailout.
The State has been lowering its stake in stages after initially
taking up 64%.
The new operation takes its stake down from 26.7% to 11.7%.
A merger between MPS and Banco BPM would give Italy a third big
banking 'hub' after UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo.
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