Latest news with #AndreaMandala
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Italy's Unipol aims to generate 1 billion euros of capital in new plan
By Andrea Mandala MILAN (Reuters) -Italian financial group Unipol aims to generate 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in capital over the next three years to boost its finances and have money for investments. Unveiling its "Stronger/Faster/Better" plan for 2025-2027, Italy's second biggest insurer said on Friday it would target a total net profit of 3.8 billion euros ($4.1 billion). That compares with 2.3 billion euros under the previous three-year plan, a goal that Unipol surpassed. It also pledged to pay out up to 2.2 billion euros in dividends over the period, versus the previous goal of 960 million euros, which it also exceeded. Unipol's shares were down 0.8% at 0930 GMT, with analysts saying the profit and dividend targets were broadly in line with expectations. "We believe that the additional capital generation across the plan after dividend payments comes as a positive surprise, which we could think might be deployed for growth or additional capital return", Barclays analysts said in a note. In-house or 'organic' capital generation is a strategy adopted, for example, by UniCredit under CEO Andrea Orcel, who has focused the bank on activities that maximise profits relative to capital tied up to cover risks. Unipol said it would strengthen its profitability and distribution network, which relies in part on BPER Banca and Banca Popolare di Sondrio, banks in which Unipol owns nearly 20% each. The banking distribution channel will be expanded through more products that require less capital, Unipol said. Unipol has backed a 4.3 billion euro takeover bid that BPER launched last month for Popolare di Sondrio, saying a merger would positively impact its partnerships with the two lenders. In the final year of the plan, Unipol aims to achieve total insurance revenues of 18 billion euros, with 10.6 billion from its non-life business, and the remaining 7.4 billion from life. ($1 = 0.9271 euros) Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UniCredit's takeover target Banco BPM secures investor backing to sweeten Anima bid
By Andrea Mandala and Valentina Za MILAN (Reuters) -Banco BPM on Friday secured shareholder approval for its decision to pay more to buy fund manager Anima Holding, a key plank of the Italian bank's defence strategy against suitor UniCredit. UniCredit in late November swooped on Banco BPM, which has long been a natural takeover target for the bigger peer given its roots in Italy's wealthy Lombardy region, where UniCredit's market share is considered too small. UniCredit's 10 billion euro all-share bid had put at risk the buyout offer Banco BPM had launched two weeks earlier to take full control of Anima. The up to 1.8 billion euro Anima deal will boost the fees BPM makes by selling Anima's mutual funds at bank branches, at a time when interest rates are falling, compressing lending margins. Given UniCredit's buyout offer, Banco BPM had to receive shareholder approval before raising its bid for Anima. The proposal got backing from shareholders equivalent to 97.6% of BPM's capital present at the meeting, which was attended by investors holding 56.6% of BPM's total capital. UniCredit has reserved the right to drop its own offer for BPM if the Anima bid's terms were to change. UniCredit did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the outcome of Friday's vote. The shareholders also gave the board the power to waive some of the conditions the bid is subject to, such as clinching the Anima deal before knowing if the European Central Bank grants it a favourable capital treatment known as 'Danish Compromise'. Banco BPM is now offering 7 euros for each Anima share, versus 6.2 euros previously, to get the 77.6% of Anima it does not already own. By 1428 GMT Anima shares were flat at 6.93 euros each. Banco BPM shares lost 0.2% at 9.564 euros, compared with the 8.825 euro price implicit in UniCredit's all-share bid. UniCredit had originally offered a 0.5% premium to the market price, which has since turned into a near 8% discount as investors bet on a sweetener. UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel has not ruled out adding a cash top-up. Banco BPM's top shareholder Credit Agricole attended Friday's meeting, according to a person close to the French bank. That means it backed the proposal, given that only shareholders holding less than 3% of BPM's capital failed to vote in favour. Credit Agricole is awaiting the European Central Bank's authorisation to raise its BPM stake above the current 9.9%. In December it disclosed a derivatives deal for an additional 5.2% stake. A filing on Thursday showed that Deutsche Bank has now acquired a 5.2% stake in BPM. Three sources close to the matter on Friday said the stake is held on behalf of Credit Agricole. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BPER CEO says Italy's M&A wave prompted defensive bid for Pop Sondrio
By Andrea Mandala and Valentina Za MILAN (Reuters) -BPER Banca's CEO on Friday said its 4.3 billion euro ($4.5 billion) all-share takeover bid for smaller peer Banca Popolare di Sondrio was a defensive move prompted by a raft of merger proposals across Italy's banking industry. Mid-sized Italian banks like BPER have long been seen as candidates for consolidation. Previously, BPER had explored a tie-up with Banco BPM but they never reached an accord. Banco BPM has now become a target for larger bank UniCredit. Popolare di Sondrio's board is to meet in the coming days to consider the unsolicited bid proposal, a source close to the bank said. BPER Chairman Fabio Cerchiai said the offer was not hostile, while CEO Gianni Franco Papa said BPER plans to keep Pop Sondrio's brand and cut jobs only through voluntary early retirement. "The current consolidation phase hastened this transaction: it became imperative for us to defend our competitive position also in terms of size," Papa said. Shares in BPER, Italy's fourth largest bank, plunged 7.7%, with analysts saying Pop Sondrio, whose shares rose 5%, was worth more in terms of valuation multiples. "Delivering meaningful earnings per share accretion on this tie up is not an easy task," Jefferies said. "However, there are strategic merits to the deal, with BPER acquiring exposure to attractive regions and increasing market share in an environment of rapid sector consolidation." The combined entity will have a 14% market share in Lombardy, Italy's wealthiest region, double BPER's current share. A tie-up would bring together two banks whose main shareholder is Unipol, Italy's second-largest insurer which has a near 20% equity stake in each lender. Papa said Unipol had been consulted, and would now assess the financials of the deal. UNIPOL Unipol Chief Executive Carlo Cimbri has bet on commercial accords with banks to sell the insurer's products, buying stakes to secure the partnerships, and backing the expansion of BPER's branch footprint. Given the shareholding structure, the bid would give BPER control with as little as 35% of Pop Sondrio plus one share. BPER, based in the town of Modena, famous for its automakers, including Ferrari, cured meat products and balsamic vinegar, jumped in size in 2020 by buying 600 branches in the Intesa Sanpaolo-UBI merger. It then swallowed up Genoa-based rival Carige. BPER is offering 29 new shares for every 20 Pop Sondrio shares tendered, a 7.8% premium based on Thursday's closing prices, Reuters' calculations showed. The latest unsolicited bid in Italian banking follows state-backed Monte dei Paschi di Siena's (MPS) shock move on bigger rival Mediobanca. The chain reaction was set in motion by Italy selling a stake in bailed-out MPS in November, which brought on board as shareholders Banco BPM and two Italian investors with large stakes in Mediobanca and insurer Generali. The prospect of an eventual tie-up between Banco BPM and MPS prompted UniCredit's swoop on BPM. That left MPS, which has always been seen as in need of a partner and which had been looking at BPM, with no option but to bid for Mediobanca. Unipol's Cimbri had offered to join forces with MPS, but Italy's conservative government spurned an offer that came from a camp traditionally close to left-wing politics in Italy. ($1 = 0.9639 euros)
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Unipol-backed BPER joins Italy's M&A frenzy with $4.5 billion Pop Sondrio bid
By Andrea Mandala and Gursimran Mehar MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's fourth-largest bank BPER on Thursday joined in a raft of takeover bids rocking the country's financial sector, with a 4.3 billion euro ($4.46 billion) all-share bid for Banca Popolare di Sondrio. BPER and Popolare di Sondrio (BPSO) have in common their main shareholder, insurer Unipol, which distributes its products through both banks. BPER said it would issue 29 new shares for every 20 shares of BPSO shares tendered, implying a premium of 7.8% based on Thursday's closing prices, according to Reuters calculations. BPER said the premium is of 6.6% based on Wednesday's closing levels, but both BPER and BPSO shares gained over 4% on Thursday. BPER said it aimed to secure at least 35% of BPSO's capital plus one share in order to exert control over the rival. The combined company's net profit is expected to surpass 2 billion euros in 2027, BPER said adding that it expects the deal to close in the second half of 2025. BPER's market capitalisation of about 9.74 billion euros is more than double mid-sized lender BPSO's market value of 4.17 billion euros, according to LSEG data. Though Unipol boss Carlo Cimbri had previously said that a merger between BPER and BPSO would be "a mistake," the combination had been widely expected to take place at some point in the future. The bid comes as a number of unsolicited buyout offers are set to redesign Italy's banking landscape. Before Christmas, BPER's direct rival Banco BPM launched a bid for asset manager Anima Holding and took a stake in bailed-out Monte dei Paschi di Siena, before becoming a takeover target for UniCredit. Then earlier this year, state-backed Monte dei Paschi launched a hostile 13.3 billion euro all-share bid for prestigious rival Mediobanca. Unsolicited offers are traditionally rare in the finance industry. But Intesa Sanpaolo led the way back in 2020 by acquiring smaller rival UBI after a strenuous takeover battle. BPER reported full-year adjusted consolidated net profit of at 1.40 billion euros, the Modena-based bank said in a separate statement. ($1 = 0.9634 euros)
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bid discount indicates scepticism over MPS bid for Italian rival Mediobanca
By Andrea Mandala and Giulia Segreti MILAN/ROME (Reuters) -The discount to market prices represented by Monte dei Paschi's bid (MPS) for Mediobanca widened further on Monday, signalling deepening investor doubts over the bailed out Tuscan bank's offer for a bigger rival. On Friday, the state-backed lender launched a surprise 13.3 billion euro all-share ($13.9 billion) buyout bid for Mediobanca, whose board meets on Tuesday to start reviewing the offer. Based on Italian rules, the board will be able to give formal advice to shareholders only once the bid's prospectus is public, in a few months' time. For now, the board is expected to give the cold shoulder to an unsolicited offer which values Mediobanca some 1.5 billion euros below its current market capitalisation. In a letter to employees at the weekend, Mediobanca CEO Alberto Nagel said the offer had not been previously agreed and the bank would decide how to best protect the interests of its stakeholders. Shares in MPS, which has returned to profits and dividends after a bailout in 2017, fell 1.6% by 1615 GMT, extending a 7% drop on Friday. MPS is offering 23 of its own shares for every 10 Mediobanca shares tendered. Mediobanca shares were up fractionally by 0.3% after Friday's 7.7% jump. Italy's banking index rose 0.3%. MPS' proposed takeover, the latest move in a wave of consolidation in the Italian banking sector, was welcomed by Italy's conservative government but it has left analysts concerned about the limited scope for cost savings, and the ability to retain Mediobanca investment bankers. "The deal was the least predictable among Italian banks given the different business models of the two banks," HSBC said in a note. GOVERNMENT ENDORSEMENT MPS CEO Luigi Lovaglio, a veteran banker for decades at UniCredit, has said the idea was to combine MPS' branch franchise with Mediobanca products, while preserving both brands and running Mediobanca's investment banking business separately. Mediobanca's operations include wealth management and consumer finance. On the latter it already partners with MPS. The government, which still owns 11.7% of MPS, has endorsed the offer and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Sunday said everyone should be proud of MPS' turnaround. "If the deal is successful, we will have that third major banking group [after Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit] which we always spoke about, a group that could help to protect Italians' savings," she said. Meloni's government had been working on returning MPS to the private sector, after a previous collapsed sale of MPS to UniCredit in 2021. After spurning MPS then, late last year UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel derailed government's efforts to broker a tie-up of MPS and Banco BPM with support from billionaire Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and the holding company of late fellow tycoon Leonardo Del Vecchio. Caltagirone and the Del Vecchio family's Delfin holding are also leading shareholders in Mediobanca.($1 = 0.9551 euros) (Writing by Valentina Za;Editing by Keith Weir) Sign in to access your portfolio
