Latest news with #AssicurazioniGenerali
Bloomberg
6 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Generali Offers a Perfect Venue to Fight for Europe's Financial Future
It's no exaggeration to say that what happens at Assicurazioni Generali SpA in the next few months will determine the financial and political map of Italy for years to come – and exert a strong pull on the strategic direction of Europe as a whole. The country's biggest insurer is the key domino in a matrix of banking deals: Which way it falls will affect most of the other proposed alliances. Generali's hometown of Trieste in the northeast corner of Italy is the perfect setting for a decision around which a constellation of corporate deals will turn. This glorious and strange city's patchwork past echoes the fluid history of European nations – it's been Austrian, Napoleonic and Balkan, as well as Italian. The next step for the insurer could leave it chained to a fractious past, or open up a bigger, more European future.
Zawya
28-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
UniCredit doubles stake in Greek bank Alpha in latest M&A twist
MILAN - UniCredit has done a deal to double its stake to close to 20% in Greece's Alpha Bank , the Italian bank said on Wednesday, as it diverted its attention away from M&A stumbling blocks elsewhere. Last week UniCredit challenged in court government conditions hampering a bid for domestic peer Banco BPM , while its ambitions to tie up with Germany's Commerzbank are also on hold due to government hostility. UniCredit said it has used derivatives bought through leading investment banks to buy 9.7% of Alpha at a discount to the latest closing price. It already owned 9.6% of Alpha. "This step strengthens our successful partnership with Alpha", CEO Andrea Orcel said in a statement. The bank will now seek ECB approval for the deal which would allow it to cross the 10% threshold and reach a potential holding of up to 29.9%. UniCredit also used derivatives to acquire 28% of Commerzbank. It bought a stake in Assicurazioni Generali too, but Orcel on Tuesday ruled out a takeover offer for Italy's biggest insurer. It first invested in Alpha in late 2023, becoming its main shareholder by buying the 9% stake held by Greece's state-controlled bank bailout fund HFSF for 293.5 million euros ($332 million). The investment was part of a deal that saw UniCredit acquire most of Alpha's Romanian business and strike a commercial partnership to sell its own asset management products to the 3.5 million clients of Greece's fourth-largest bank. The increased holding will allow the bank to book the investment in a way that generates an additional net profit of around 180 million euros per year, UniCredit said, adding it would return that money to shareholders. The impact on UniCredit's core capital will be of around 40 basis points it said. ($1 = 0.8835 euros)
Reuters
27-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UniCredit CEO rules out move on Generali
MILAN, May 27 (Reuters) - UniCredit Chief Executive Andrea Orcel ruled out on Tuesday the bank could make a play for Assicurazioni Generali ( opens new tab, Italy's biggest insurer in which it has recently acquired 6.7%. The stake, which UniCredit ( opens new tab has called a financial investment, the same description it has used for its 28% Commerzbank ( opens new tab holding, has raised speculation about Generali's future as the insurer cuts ties with its main shareholder. Generali's main investor, Mediobanca ( opens new tab, plans to dispose of its 13% stake under a scheme to fend off suitor Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( opens new tab. Mediobanca would use its Generali shares as payment to buy the insurer's private banking unit Banca Generali ( opens new tab. On Monday, Intesa CEO Carlo Messina said he would ring Orcel to dissuade him from a Generali acquisition were UniCredit to make a move for the insurer, opening up a third M&A front. UniCredit has launched a buyout offer for smaller rival Banco BPM ( opens new tab. Speaking at the same FABI union conference a day after Messina, Orcel was asked if there were any risks the Intesa CEO would have to make that phone call. "Absolutely not," Orcel said. Orcel also played down any potential interest for Banca Generali, saying such networks of financial advisers traded at valuation multiples much higher than banks and a combination with a branch franchise would offer little scope for cost savings. Orcel said distribution was a key element of wealth management and it made sense for a bank to hold onto any distribution capacity, but he added that Generali may have different strategies in parting ways with Banca Generali. Asked if UniCredit, as an investor in Generali, supported the Banca Generali deal, Orcel said the decision would be taken by the insurer's board and not be put to its shareholders. However, some other Generali shareholders have raised doubts about whether the decision can be left solely to the board, without a shareholder vote.
Bloomberg
12-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Zaoui's Co-Founder Bets on Franco-Italian M&A With Milan Move
Yoël Zaoui, the co-founder of boutique investment bank Zaoui & Co., has relocated to Milan as the London-based firm seeks to strengthen its ties with Italian and French corporates, people with knowledge of the matter said. The 64-year-old veteran banker is the latest financier to leave the UK as British lawmakers are curbing perks for living there. Zaoui—a French and British national—has opted to move to Italy where some of the firm's key clients including Assicurazioni Generali SpA are based, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.
Economist
01-05-2025
- Business
- Economist
A takeover bid promises consolidation in Italian finance
THE PAPAL conclave is not the only powwow in Italy scheduled for May 7th. As the cardinal-electors process into the Sistine Chapel, the directors of Assicurazioni Generali, the country's biggest insurer, will gather in Milan. On their minds (but not the agenda) is a €6.3bn ($7.2bn) offer for Banca Generali, a wealth manager of which the group owns half. The bid, made on April 28th by Mediobanca, Italy's pivotal investment bank, is the latest effort to consolidate a crowded financial sector.
