Another operation in the process of integration of the European banking system. Italian bank Unicredit has launched a takeover bid (OPA) for its rival Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM), valued at 10.1 billion euros. A decision which, from the outset, does not seem to have the approval of Giorgia Meloni’s management.
The entity led by Andrea Orcel, who was about to become CEO of Banco Santander, wants to buy its competitor through an exchange of shares. At the same time, they have another operation underway, as they took on a German entity, Commerzbank, a few weeks ago in a move that exposed the nationalist obstacles to European mergers within the financial sector.
Today, Unicredit is establishing itself in Italy, but it also does not have a red carpet that facilitates integration, at least at the beginning.
The reason is that Banca Popolare di Milano was emerging as a key player in consolidating the third largest banking entity in the transalpine country, behind Unicredit itself and Intesa Sanpaolo.
Rome’s preferences
A few days ago, the Italian state claimed to have managed to gain more than a billion euros with the sale to various investors of 15% of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the Tuscan bank that it had to save for almost eight years and of which he had already placed more than 35% of the capital on the market, with the aim of returning it to private hands as quickly as possible.
In this movement, the Milanese bank BPM retained 5% and announced that it wanted to reach 9.9%, without however intending to merge the two entities. However, as published by the Reuters agency, the Meloni government would welcome this operation, between BPM and MPS, because it would give birth to a larger entity, capable of competing with the first two irons of the Italian banking sector.
The vice-president of the Italian government, the far-right Matteo Salvini, has already filed a complaint against a union between Unicredit and Banca Popolare di Milano. “I have never liked concentrations,” he declared yesterday Monday in comments reported by La Reppublica. “I remained convinced that Unicredit wanted to develop in Germany,” he quips.
He also said that Unicredit “has little or no Italian, it’s a foreign bank.” According to Unicredit’s shareholder structure, only 8% of the capital is held by Italian investors, while 42% are American; 25%, from the United Kingdom; and 22% from other European countries. The majority of its investors, 75%, are institutional and only one is cited as a reference shareholder, the giant Blackrock, which exceeds 7% of the capital.
“For me,” Salvini assured, “on the other hand, it is important that there are no difficulties for entities like BPM and MPS, which are Italian entities that could create the third Italian bank.” And what’s more, he took the opportunity to file a complaint against the Italian Central Bank. “What did he do?” Does it exist? Do you supervise him? “I would like to know if everything is under control,” he criticized during an event in Milan.
