By Valentina Za and Andrea Mandala
Milan (Reuters) – The series of buyout attempts that shake the Italian financial sector will be put to a market test in the coming months, when investors of the target companies decide on the supply of their shares.
Wednesday, after receiving a green light from the Bank of Italy, Banco BPM begins the dance this month with its project to buy Fund Manager Anima Holding.
Unicredit should follow suit in April with its own buyout offer for Banco BPM.
Then, there is also the Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena (MPS) supported by the State which surprised the markets with its movement in Mediobanca, the main shareholder of the third general insurer of Europe – considered as the ultimate price of the current repayment of the market.
By diving on Banco BPM and building a participation of 2 billion euros (2.1 billion dollars) in Generali, CEO Andrea Orcel put Unicredit at the center of the Sector Remodeling Wave.
It is not yet clear how Orcel will play his cards or how all this will take place, but here is a summary of what investors should monitor in the weeks and months to come.
Banco BPM of Unicredit
The Unicredit shareholders will vote on March 27 to approve the issue of the actions necessary to finance the offer not requested by 10 billion euros (11 billion dollars) for Banco BPM.
The European Central Bank should approve the offer at that time, paving the way for Unicredit to launch it in April.
To a reduction of around 1 billion euros at market prices, the offer is unlikely to succeed without a cash recharge, which Rorcel reported as a possibility.
Under the conditions of the offer, the modified terms of the animated agreement give Unicredit the right to move away just before the payment of the offer, given in June.
What is the following for Banco BPM?
The BPM redemption offer for animals of up to 1.8 billion euros should start the second half of March. The shooting already amounts to 45% given the participation of 22.4% BPM and promises of promises to lead animal investors to accept the improvement of the offer.
The shareholders authorized the BPM board of directors to conclude the agreement even before the ECB decided to grant it a favorable treatment which would greatly reduce the impact of the bank’s capital ratios.
Banco BPM is convinced that the ECB will govern in its favor. There is not yet a calendar for the decision, which also counts for the decision of Ucredit on cash refill.
What about unicredit fad Commerzbank?
Orcel said that the Banco BPM agreement and its subsequent integration would not interfere with the potential Take of Control of Commerzbank. Unicredit already holds 28% of its shares and is expected to obtain the ECB approval around mid-March to hold up to 29.9%.
