Latest news with #goldenpower
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UniCredit withdraws bid for Banco BPM due to 'golden power' uncertainty
UniCredit's board of directors has announced the withdrawal of its bid for Banco BPM, after months of negotiations and intervention by the Italian government. The bank's reasoning behind the decision to pull out is the Italian government's implementation of the so-called golden power rule, requested by the Banco BPM management. Golden power is the instrument with which, in exceptional cases, a country's leadership can de facto condition or even prohibit a market transaction. According to UniCredit, the instrument would have made it impossible to complete the negotiations within the deadline set for the offer, depriving Banco's shareholders of the dialogue that normally takes place during an offer period to understand the value created by the takeover and determine the conditions that would be acceptable to move forward. Related Asian markets rise, Toyota up by 14% after US tariff deal "While we welcome the significant progress made with the TAR (Regional administrative tribunals), EU DG for Competition and the Italian government, the timeframe for a final resolution of the golden power issue goes well beyond the expiration of our offer and also that of the suspension decided today by CONSOB," reads the note in which UniCredit announced the withdrawal of the offer. "The offer process has been affected by the golden power clause, insistently invoked by BPM's top management, which has prevented UniCredit from engaging in dialogue with BPM's shareholders in the way that a normal offer process would have allowed," the group writes further. "This is a missed opportunity not only for BPM's stakeholders but also for the Italian business community and the economy in general. UniCredit remains convinced that the consolidation of the Italian banking sector would benefit both the country and Europe as a whole," the note concludes.
Wall Street Journal
22-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Italy's UniCredit Withdraws Offer to Buy Banco BPM
UniCredit UCG 0.07%increase; green up pointing triangle said it withdrew its acquisition offer for Banco BPM BAMI 1.23%increase; green up pointing triangle, citing complaints related to the golden power provision that allows the Italian government to impose conditions on corporate transactions. UniCredit, Italy's second largest bank, offered to buy smaller peer BPM in November in an all-stock deal valued at 10.1 billion euros ($11.81 billion) at the time.
Reuters
16-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Savings are matter of national security, Italy tells EU on UniCredit-BPM bid
ROME, June 16 (Reuters) - Italy has responded to European Union queries on the conditions it has imposed on UniCredit's ( opens new tab bid for Banco BPM ( opens new tab by saying domestic savings are a matter of national security, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The European Commission had asked Rome for details about the terms that Giorgia Meloni's government set in authorising UniCredit's buyout offer for smaller lender BPM. The EU's scrutiny of the way Italy uses its 'golden power' legislation to shield key assets could lead to an infringement procedure. To clear the deal, the Italian government told UniCredit to halt its activities in Russia, except for payments, by early 2026 and to refrain from lowering BPM's loan-to-deposit ratio for five years. The EU, which promotes free movement of capital within the bloc, objected that it was unclear how an Italian lender buying a domestic rival could threaten the country's security and therefore be subject to golden power conditions. Italy has responded that more than 60% of UniCredit's capital is held by non-EU investors, the sources briefed on the contents of letters Rome exchanged with Brussels told Reuters. With a large public debt to refinance each year, Rome considers it important that the allocation of savings remains in domestic hands. Italy also argued that a government's duty to defend a country's financial security applies regardless of whether a merger deal potentially affecting national savings involves a foreign player or is fully domestic, the sources said. The European Commission was not immediately available to comment. Born to fend off unwelcome offers from outside the EU bloc, golden powers were expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic to shield strategic companies as their valuations crashed. Some member states, including Italy, have applied the legislation to the banking sector, even though EU rules hand supervisory powers over banks to the European Central Bank (ECB). UniCredit's swoop on BPM, which derailed Rome's plans to combine BPM with state-backed Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( opens new tab, is part of a wave of takeover bids sweeping Italy. Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said last month he would resign if he were overruled on UniCredit, after the government-imposed terms for the bid split the ruling coalition. Meloni has not recently spoken publicly on the issue.
Reuters
28-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italy economy minister says would quit if defied on UniCredit-BPM deal
ROME, May 28 (Reuters) - Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday he would resign if he were overruled on "golden power" conditions the government has tied to UniCredit's ( opens new tab bid for smaller bank Banco BPM ( opens new tab. Giorgetti was speaking in the Senate after reports in Italian newspapers, citing government sources, suggested that changes in the conditions were possible, but were being resisted by the minister. He told senators that if there was any divergence on UniCredit-BPM between his position and that of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, he would quit immediately. "If there were the slightest misalignment (with Meloni) you wouldn't find a resignation threat, but the resignation itself. You don't announce your resignation, you do it," Giorgetti said. UniCredit's swoop on BPM, which derailed Rome's plans to combine BPM with state-backed Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( opens new tab, is part of a wave of proposed takeover bids rocking Italian banking. In order to clear the deal, Meloni's administration has given UniCredit nine months to cease its activities in Russia and asked it not to reduce BPM's loan-to-deposit ratio for five years. Giorgetti said the government was focused on monitoring compliance with the golden power conditions, and its response to issues raised by both Banco BPM and UniCredit would be fully coordinated between the Treasury and Meloni's office. UniCredit has appealed to an administrative court against the terms set by the government, and its CEO Andrea Orcel said on Tuesday it could let the offer lapse because it was no longer financially advantageous under the conditions imposed. Banco BPM also said it would appeal to an administrative court against a decision by Italian market regulator Consob to suspend the buyout offer for 30 days, to give UniCredit time to negotiate the golden power terms with the government. "They all go to court in this country and things get messy," Giorgetti said.
Reuters
23-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UniCredit has appealed to court against Italy govt's terms on its Banco BPM bid, Repubblica says
ROME, May 23 (Reuters) - Italian bank UniCredit ( opens new tab has appealed to an administrative court against the "golden power" terms the Italian government has imposed regarding its bid for smaller peer Banco BPM, newspaper la Repubblica reported on Friday. The newspaper did not give its sources for the report, and also said the bank did not confirm the reported move.
