Bidding war erupts for world’s oldest bank: Intesa gatecrashes BPM bid
A pedestrian pushes a baby stroller past a red Vespa scooter in front of the Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena SpA bank in Pescara, Italy.
Marc Hill | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bidding war for Italy Monte dei Paschi di Siena A fight broke out between rivals Intesa Sanpaolo And Banco BPMTwo lenders are vying for control of the world’s oldest bank.
Intesa announced an unsolicited bid of 30.6 billion euros ($35.3 billion) on Monday, hoping to usurp its rival and create Europe’s second-largest bank by market value.
In the statement, it was stated that the offer provided a 12.5% premium compared to MPS’s closing share price on Friday. The value of Monte dei Paschi di Siena is 27.4 billion euros.
Intesa’s advance comes in direct opposition to rival BPM Banco’s announcement on Sunday that its board had unanimously approved a move to MPS to express interest in discussing a “merger of equals”.
The bank gave little detail about the deal structure, saying only that it would give both groups equal weight in the combined entity.
MPS, which benefited from the state rescue package in 2017, was privatized again in 2023. It has since emerged as a target for further consolidation in the Italian banking sector following the acquisition. Mediobanca a deal last year that enabled him to become an insurer generals‘s largest investor.
of france Credit AgricoleBPM Banco’s major shareholder told CNBC on Monday that it is “interested in analyzing value creation opportunities that could strengthen BPM” in support of the potential merger.
Shares of Intesa and BPM Banco fell 4% and 1.1% respectively, while MPS shares rose 0.9% in early trading on Monday.
