AFP – UniCredit, Italy’s second biggest bank, said it will launch its buyout offer for smaller rival Banco BPM on April 28, after securing approval from the European Central Bank (ECB) and Italy’s market watchdog.
The offer for Banco BPM – Italy’s third largest – will run until June 23, UniCredit said in a press release, without specifying the amount.
UniCredit had offered 0.175 of its ordinary shares for every Banco BPM share in November, valuing its rival at EUR10.1 billion.
Banco BPM had asked Italian financial markets watchdog Consob in mid-December to effectively block UniCredit’s offensive, but the latter said Consob had approved the deal.
UniCredit said it had also received the ECB’s approval.
Banco BPM considers the move hostile and the offer as insufficient, and has filed an appeal with the Italian competition watchdog.
Formed in 2017 from the merger of Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano, Banco BPM has its own takeover plans, targeting asset management group Anima.
On Monday it became the majority shareholder of Anima, controlling more than 51.35 per cent of its capital, and is expected to raise its stake in the coming days.
This is despite a setback last week when the ECB objected to the application of the so-called “Danish compromise” for the Anima acquisition. The European Union (EU) regulatory provision allows easier terms for banks that own insurance operations when calculating their capital ratios.
UniCredit Chief Executive Andrea Orcel had previously warned that he could rescind his offer for Banco BPM if it raised its stake in Anima – but BPM went ahead anyway.
Orcel had warned shareholders of a possible negative effect on BPM’s equity capital in the absence of the Danish compromise.
UniCredit is also mulling a takeover of Germany’s Commerzbank, for which it has secured the green light from the ECB to raise its stake to 29.9 per cent.
