A pedestrian pushes a stroller past a red Vespa scooter outside the Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena SpA bank in Pescara, Italy.
Mark Hill | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bidding war for Italy Monte dei Paschi di Siena broke out between rivals Intesa Sanpaolo and Banco BPMtwo lenders are fighting for control of the world’s oldest bank.
Intesa on Monday announced an unsolicited offer of 30.6 billion euros ($35.3 billion) in hopes of taking over its rival and creating Europe’s second-largest bank by market capitalization.
In a statement, the company said its offer represents a 12.5% premium to MPS’s closing share price on Friday. Monte dei Paschi di Siena is worth 27.4 billion euros.
Intesa’s move comes in direct response to rival BPM Banco’s announcement on Sunday that its board had unanimously approved a move to express interest in MPS in “merger of equals” talks.
The bank provided few details about the deal structure, saying only that both groups would be given equal weight in the combined entity.
MPS received state bailout in 2017, but was re-privatized in 2023. Following the acquisition, it has emerged as a target for further consolidation in the Italian banking sector. Mediobanca Last year, the company entered into a contract to become an insurance company. Generalilargest investor.
french credit agricoleBPM Banco’s largest shareholder, told CNBC on Monday that he expressed support for a potential merger, saying he was “interested in analyzing value creation opportunities that could strengthen BPM.”
Intesa and BPM Banco shares fell 4% and 1.1% respectively, while MPS shares rose 0.9% in early trading on Monday.
