The board of directors of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (Mps) has approved the plan put forward by chief executive officer Luigi Lovaglio to launch two separate public exchange offers for Banco Bpm and Banca Generali, in order to build an industrial alternative to the Opas (public purchase and exchange offer) launched by Intesa Sanpaolo for the Siena-based bank.
The decision came on Thursday at the end of the extraordinary meeting of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena board.
The possible countermeasures to defend itself against Intesa Sanpaolo's Opas worth around 30.5 billion euros had been put on the table, as the bank aims to take control of the Siena lender through an offer addressed to Mps shareholders.
The response presented to the Rocca Salimbeni board by CEO Luigi Lovaglio envisages two distinct public exchange offers (Ops), consisting entirely of Mps shares, for Banco BPM and Banca Generali.
After around seven hours of discussions, the Mps board of directors approved the chief executive's plan with nine votes in favour and four abstentions.
The aim is to strengthen Mps's size and weight within the Italian banking system by creating a larger banking group.
The deal could also change the shareholding structure of Banco Bpm: among the bank's main shareholders is Crédit Agricole, which holds a significant stake. The Mps offer for Banco Bpm has not been agreed with the bank's management and therefore comes against the backdrop of an already complex stand-off between the main shareholders. Banca Generali, controlled by Assicurazioni Generali, is also part of Mps's strategy, through a transaction separate from the one involving Banco Bpm.
Crédit Agricole is not commenting, for now, on the decision by the Monte dei Paschi di Siena board to launch an offer for Banco Bpm, the French bank told Ansa. Banca Generali has also declined to comment after the Mps board gave the go-ahead for the second exchange offer.
Salvini defends Mps and claims credit for the bank's revival
The deputy prime minister and League leader Matteo Salvini commented on Thursday on possible developments in the Italian banking system, stressing the need to protect "the history, autonomy and staff" of institutions such as Monte dei Paschi di Siena, "symbols of the industriousness of cities with centuries-old traditions."
"We are closely following the proposals for a future restructuring of the Italian banking system," Matteo Salvini said in a statement.
Salvini claimed credit for the League's role in the rescue and relaunch of Mps. "We enthusiastically took part in the rescue of Monte dei Paschi, one of the new government's first actions, redeeming a glorious name that had become a symbol of the left's bad governance in Tuscany. Seeing it return to centre stage in the Italian economy is a success of which, as the League, we can only be proud," the deputy prime minister said.
Attacks on the government "meddling in the banking takeover game"
On Thursday morning, Italia Viva senator Ivan Scalfarotto criticised the Meloni government's approach to the banking risiko, calling it "absurd and inexplicable".
Scalfarotto accused the executive of intervening both in the UniCredit-Banco Bpm deal and in Intesa Sanpaolo's Opas for Mps, and called on the government to maintain a neutral stance.
"We have reached the absurd situation where, in the space of a few months, the government has attacked the CEOs of both of the country's two most important banks. We are not cheerleaders, but we believe in the market: the numbers are what count; may the best one win," Scalfarotto said.
"We are not concerned about the future of Orcel, Messina, Lovaglio or Donner; what matters to us is that the government stays out of these battles. We are calling for government neutrality and yet once again Meloni's people are barging into financial deals from which they should keep their distance," the Italia Viva senator said.
Market reaction
In the meantime, markets are reacting to the banking takeover game.
According to Thursday's data, Piazza Affari is trading cautiously higher, up 0.35%. Mps is gaining 1.05%, while Bpm is slightly up, rising 0.21%. Leading gains is Banca Generali, controlled by the Lion of Trieste, which is up 2.08%. Intesa Sanpaolo is adding 0.90%, while Generali is up 0.61%. Unipol, which has an agreement with Intesa in the wake of the Opas for Mps, is instead down 1.97%.
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