A 10 billion euro all-share takeover
bid for Banco BPM by Italy's second biggest bank UniCredit is a
hostile one, a BPM director said Tuesday.
UniCredit on Monday launched the surprise 10 bid for its
domestic rival which UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel said would take
precedence over a potential move on German lender Commerzbank.
Under the acquisition of Banco BPM, which has long been a
potential buyout target, UniCredit would become the
third-largest lender in Europe for market capitalization, after
British group HSBC and Switzerland's UBS, and ahead of Spain's
Santader.
The government is unhappy about the bid as the executive had
favoured the creation of a so-called 'third pole' in domestic
banking between State-controlled Monte dei Paschi di Siena
(MPS), out of which the State is currently divesting after major
restructuring, and BPM.
MPS, the world's oldest bank, is currently seeking a partner and
the potential merger with BPM, which recently acquired 5% of MPS
stock, had attracted the support of a number of major economic
players including the Caltagirone and Del Vecchio families.
Premier Giorgia Meloni's government is reportedly weighing
whether to invoke its 'golden power' clause to block UniCredit's
potential takeover of BPM, it being seen as a nationally
strategic asset.
Entering BPM's office Tuesday morning for a meeting to assess
the bid, director Mauro Paoloni answered "yes" when asked if the
UniCredit move was hostile.
Meanwhile French banking giant Credit Agricole, the largest
shareholder in Banco BPM with 9.2% of the capital, said it had
not asked the European Central Bank for authorization to exceed
the 10% threshold of the bank led by Giuseppe Castagna.
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