Unicredit: bid to acquire Banco BPM
Banks and banking products
Posted by MoneyController on 25.11.2024
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New surprise move by Unicredit: after the postponement of the transaction on Commerzbank, the Italian bank has drafted a new offer for the acquisition of another credit institution, namely Banco BPM.
The latest big news on the European banking market once again concerns the Italian bank Unicredit: the bank has in fact formulated what is known as an OPS (Public Exchange Offer) for the purchase of another Italian bank, namely Banco BPM (of which the largest shareholder is Credit Agricole). The transaction would consist of Unicredit paying for the shares of Banco BPM: taking into account an agreed price per share of 6.657, this would amount to EUR 10.1 billion.
The offer, Unicredit explained, does not interfere with the other major transaction underway, namely the attempt by the Andrea Orcel-led bank to also acquire Germany's Commerzbank. Negotiations, however, have been postponed following the German government crisis: they will be discussed again after the February vote in Germany.
Unicredit's current capitalisation is € 62.3 billion: if Banco BPM were also added, this figure would rise to € 73 billion (Banco BPM is in fact worth € 10.7 billion). As Daniela Polizzi points out in the ‘Corriere della Sera’, this value, however, could rise to EUR 82 billion if two other acquisitions are taken into account: a) the increase in the share held by Monte dei Paschi di Siena (from 5% to 9.9%; b) the acquisition of Anima Holding.
Unicredit commented on this new acquisition project both by talking about very limited risks as regards antitrust and the strategic value of the operation. With regard to this last point, i.e. the creation of an international banking pole of a European nature, Orcel emphasised the role that such a transnational European group could play in the context of the challenges facing Europe today, i.e. the need to have to compete with superpowers and large international blocs.
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