Latest news with #BPER
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ING met Italy's Popolare di Sondrio amid European expansion plan, source says
By Amy-Jo Crowley LONDON (Reuters) - ING Groep met with Italy's Banca Popolare di Sondrio in recent weeks as it seeks to grow in Europe through takeovers, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The early stage discussions were not advanced and may not proceed to an offer by the Dutch bank, the person said. ING and Sondrio declined to comment. A bid by ING would rival a 4.3 billion euro ($4.7 billion) all-share offer by BPER Banca for Sondrio in February, which was the latest in a raft of takeover activity in Italy's banking sector. BPER and Sondrio both have as lead shareholder Unipol, Italy's second-largest insurer, which owns nearly 20% of each lender. Unipol Chairman Carlo Cimbri said on Friday a foreign bank was studying a potential bid for Sondrio to rival BPER's. Speaking at the presentation of Unipol's multi-year plan, Cimbri hinted at ING as a possible suitor by saying the bank interested in Sondrio was the colour of a journalist's tie, which was orange. Headquartered in the Valtellina valley, a wealthy mountain area northeast of Milan, Sondrio has enlisted the help of Bank of America and Morgan Stanley as defence advisers against BPER. The bankers have been speaking with potential bidders, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. Sondrio has already offered to return 1.5 billion euros to shareholders over 2025-2027, doubling the payout of the past three years, in a move to fend off BPER. BPER said its pursuit of Sondrio was a defensive move given the consolidation wave in the sector. ING said in February it was looking for opportunities to buy rival banks in major European countries including Italy, Spain and Germany to boost its size. The Dutch lender has been active as a retail bank in Italy since 2001 and it is a leading digital bank in the country serving 1.275 million clients. It is currently looking to expand its deposit base by offering a 4% return for a year on new accounts opened before the end of May. ($1 = 0.9236 euros) Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
29-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
ING met Italy's Popolare di Sondrio amid European expansion plan, source says
LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - ING Groep ( opens new tab met with Italy's Banca Popolare di Sondrio ( opens new tab in recent weeks as it seeks to grow in Europe through takeovers, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The early stage discussions were not advanced and may not proceed to an offer by the Dutch bank, the person said. BPER and Sondrio both have as lead shareholder Unipol ( opens new tab, Italy's second-largest insurer, which owns nearly 20% of each lender. Unipol Chairman Carlo Cimbri said on Friday a foreign bank was studying a potential bid for Sondrio to rival BPER's. Speaking at the presentation of Unipol's multi-year plan, Cimbri hinted at ING as a possible suitor by saying the bank interested in Sondrio was the colour of a journalist's tie, which was orange. Headquartered in the Valtellina valley, a wealthy mountain area northeast of Milan, Sondrio has enlisted the help of Bank of America and Morgan Stanley as defence advisers against BPER. The bankers have been speaking with potential bidders, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is private. Sondrio has already offered to return 1.5 billion euros to shareholders over 2025-2027, doubling the payout of the past three years, in a move to fend off BPER. BPER said its pursuit of Sondrio was a defensive move given the consolidation wave in the sector. ING said in February it was looking for opportunities to buy rival banks in major European countries including Italy, Spain and Germany to boost its size. The Dutch lender has been active as a retail bank in Italy since 2001 and it is a leading digital bank in the country serving 1.275 million clients. It is currently looking to expand its deposit base by offering a 4% return for a year on new accounts opened before the end of May. ($1 = 0.9236 euros)
Reuters
14-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Unipol CEO says no plans to own more than 20% of BPER after bid for Pop Sondrio
MILAN, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Insurer Unipol ( opens new tab has no plans to own more than 20% of BPER ( opens new tab after the proposed merger of the Italian bank with rival Banca Popolare di Sondrio , Unipol Chief Executive Matteo Laterza said. BPER last week launched a 4.3 billion euro ($4.5 billion) all-share takeover bid for smaller peer Popolare di Sondrio offering 29 new BPER shares for every 20 shares tendered. Unipol, Italy's second biggest insurer, is the main shareholder in both banks with a near 20% equity stake in each. Speaking to analysts after Unipol published its full-year results, Laterza described a scenario in which Unipol might find itself holding more than 20% in BPER because the take-up of its bid among Popolare di Sondrio investors fails to reach 100%. Should this occur, Unipol would reduce its stake as swiftly as possible, because surpassing a 20% ownership threshold in a bank requires European Central Bank approval and Laterza said that seeking that green light "is not an option on the table." Given the shareholding structure, with Unipol a leading investor in both banks, the bid would give BPER control with as little as 35% of Popolare di Sondrio plus one share. Unipol on Friday said it backed BPER's offer for Popolare di Sondrio. The merger will strengthen their positions in Italy's fast-consolidating banking market, and it will have a positive impact on the commercial partnerships both banks have with the insurer, Unipol said.($1 = 0.9524 euros)
Reuters
07-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
New Italy bank M&A may yet be more than a sideshow
LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Another day, another chunky Italian bank merger. On the face of it, Thursday's decision by $9 billion BPER ( opens new tab to lob in a $4.5 billion all-share bid, opens new tab for domestic peer Banca Popolare di Sondrio ( opens new tab (BPSO) merely represents the latest iteration of a wider saga in which other deals – like UniCredit's ( opens new tab 10 billion euro swoop for Banco BPM ( opens new tab and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena's ( opens new tab (MPS) 13 billion euro pitch for Mediobanca ( opens new tab – are more eye-catching. Yet BPER Chief Executive Gianni Franco Papa's gambit also inserts him in the conversation should these other deals unravel. The three Italian bank M&A situations share certain characteristics. UniCredit boss Andrea Orcel gave BPM shareholders only a 0.5% premium, and MPS offered a 5% uplift. Now BPER is proposing a mere 6.6% bump to its target's investors relative to its share price on Wednesday. The flipside in each case is the chance to share in the chunky synergies you'd expect in a domestic merger. BPER's 190 million euros of cost savings should be worth 1.3 billion euros taxed and capitalised, and Jefferies analysts see the targeted level as conservative. The deals have another thing in common: minority shareholders in the acquirers don't seem to like them. UniCredit shares fell after Orcel announced his pitch for BPM in November. MPS shares are off so much since the unveiling of its deal last month that Mediobanca's small premium has now reversed to a tangible discount. Meanwhile, BPER shares fell 8% on Friday morning. BPER investors' gripes may be because the bank trades on a lower multiple than BPSO. But strategically, the tie-up makes more sense than combining MPS with Mediobanca. It lets BPER expand in BPSO's northern Italian market, and become Italy's third biggest lender. As things stand, the most likely scenario is that all these deals go through. The presence of big investors like Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone on both Mediobanca and MPS share registers, plus the apparent support of the Italian government, may be enough. The same goes for BPM, where Orcel could sweeten his bid with cash. BPER and BPSO will probably follow suit assuming Italian insurer Unipol, which has about 20% of each, gives the nod. That said, Papa's decision to expand now may yet have a second benefit. If Mediobanca investors find a way to stop the deal happening, or if Orcel is too busy trying to buy Commerzbank ( opens new tab, MPS or BPM might come loose. A newly enlarged BPER might be well placed to bulk up further. Follow @gfhay, opens new tab on X CONTEXT NEWS Italy's fourth-largest bank BPER on February 6 launched a 4.3 billion euro ($4.46 billion) all-share bid for Banca Popolare di Sondrio (BPSO). BPER said it would issue 29 new shares for every 20 shares of BPSO tendered, implying a premium of 6.6% based on its closing levels on February 5. BPER and BPSO have in common their main shareholder, insurer Unipol, which distributes its products through both banks. BPER said it aimed to secure at least 35% of BPSO's capital plus one share in order to exert control over the rival. BPSO shares were trading at 9.75 euros on the morning of February 7, up 5.2%. BPER shares were trading at 6.4 euros, down 7%. For more insights like these, click here, opens new tab to try Breakingviews for free.
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)
