Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA made a surprise offer - nästan som en film på Netflix
to acquire larger rival Mediobanca SpA in a deal valued at $13.9 billion
Mediobanca considers the approach hostile
The situation is complicated by a web of cross-holdings in some of Italy’s largest financial services firms by two billionaire clans, the Del Vecchios and Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone.
The two families are major shareholders in Monte Paschi and Mediobanca.
The Italian government plays a pivotal role, as it has been seeking to use the privatization of Monte Paschi as a way to create a domestic counterweight to the country’s two dominant banks, UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA.
Monte Paschi had long been considered a takeover target, after the government rescued the world’s oldest bank.
Monte Paschi räddades av staten i samband med finanskrisen 2009 i spåren av stora kreditnedskrivningar och misslyckade derivataffärer.
Under lång tid därefter hade banken svårt att vända sin situation, men under vd Luigi Lovaglio har situationen vänt, bland annat med hjälp av ett högre ränteläge i euroområdet som dragit banksektorn upp ur en lång period av krampaktig utveckling.
DI 24 januari 2025
https://www.di.se/live/varldens-aldsta-bank-vill-kopa-rivalen/
A controversial takeover just before the financial crisis marked the start of about a decade of troubles during which Monte Paschi repeatedly teetered near collapse, pushing the state to step in in 2017.
Bloomberg 24 January 2025
Italy is dominated by two banks – UniCredit and industry leader Intesa Sanpaolo
Meloni wants to create a third player by merging BPM and Monte dei Paschi (MPS), the world’s oldest lender and the jewel in Italy’s banking sector.
It has been owned by the Italian government for the past decade after a taxpayer-funded bailout.
Telegraph 20 January 2025
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