Banco BPM rebuffs UniCredit's worries over ability to lend after Anima setback
BPM said earlier this week it had received a negative opinion from the European Central Bank on its request to take advantage of favourable rules that would sharply reduce the impact of the Anima acquisition on its capital ratios.
In a statement published late on Thursday, UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel said Banco BPM could see its ability to lend impaired given the amount of capital needed for the Anima deal.
UniCredit, Italy's second-biggest bank, urged Banco BPM to speedily clarify the implications so it could assess what to do in relation to its own move for the smaller peer.
"Current capital levels and those projected after the Anima bid are adequate," Castagna told an internal event on Friday.
He said Banco BPM had lent almost 100 billion euros to companies over the past five years, and a further 2.5 billion euros so far this year.
"We have the ability and the will to keep going," Castagna said. "I'm glad I'm able to reassure those who appear to worry about ability to lend."
Banco BPM on Thursday said it would proceed with the Anima buy even without taking advantage of the rules, known as the Danish Compromise.
The ECB's opinion has dealt a blow to BPM shareholders' hopes of extracting a bigger premium from UniCredit which in November unveiled a buyout offer it is expected to launch in a month or so.
"The ECB's position confirms the appropriateness of the premium implicit in the UniCredit offer for BPM," UniCredit said.
(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in fourth bullet point)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Italy's Banco BPM looking at potential merger and acquisition deals, CEO says
MILAN, July 30 (Reuters) - Banco BPM ( opens new tab, Italy's third-largest, is looking at potential merger and acquisition deals and has several options on the table, its CEO Giuseppe Castagna told Italian daily La Stampa. "It will be an agreed choice," Castagna said in an interview published on Wednesday. Referring to potential options, Castagna said that Banca Monte dei Paschi (MPS) ( opens new tab, Bper Banca ( opens new tab and Credit Agricole Italia ( opens new tab are similar to Banco BPM. UniCredit ( opens new tab withdrew its offer for Banco BPM on July 22, reviving speculation about a potential tie-up between BPM and MPS. "For any extraordinary operations we will wait until the end of the summer, when market perimeters will be defined once Monte dei Paschi's bid for Mediobanca is completed," the CEO added. MPS's offer for the Italian merchant bank will end on September 8.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Italy's Banco BPM looking at extraordinary operations, CEO says
MILAN, July 30 (Reuters) - Italy's Banco BPM ( opens new tab is looking at extraordinary operations and has several options on the table, its CEO Giuseppe Castagna told Italian daily La Stampa on Wednesday. "It will be and agreed choice," Castagna said in an interview.
Reuters
18 hours ago
- Reuters
Italy to tell EU terms for UniCredit's BPM bid remain despite deal collapse
ROME, July 29 (Reuters) - Italy will tell the European Union the terms it imposed on UniCredit's bid for Banco BPM remain in place even after the collapse of the deal, sources said, responding to criticism from Brussels that could ultimately lead to disciplinary steps. UniCredit ( opens new tab withdrew its offer for BPM ( opens new tab on July 22, blaming government intervention for scuppering the 15 billion-euro ($17.3 billion) transaction. Days earlier, the European Commission warned Italy that it could have breached EU rules by using its so-called golden powers aimed at shielding key assets to rein in UniCredit's takeover plans, giving Rome 20 working days to reply to its objections. Italy will send a letter of reply to Brussels as early as this week which will invoke national security considerations for the use of the golden powers, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The European Commission was not immediately available for comment. In the letter Italy will also say it has no plans to withdraw the decree that set the conditions for the collapsed deal, arguing that their legitimacy was largely upheld by an Italian court ruling this month, the sources added. Among several conditions, Italy told UniCredit it had to halt activities in Russia, except for payments to Western companies, by early 2026, to prevent savings collected by Banco BPM from benefiting Moscow's economy as it continues its war against Ukraine. The court ruling due to be referenced in the letter to Brussels axed some of the terms imposed by the government, but upheld the Russia-related conditions. Italy also asked UniCredit to keep investments in Italian securities of BPM-owned fund manager Anima Holding ( opens new tab, a provision that UniCredit said the court had made non-mandatory. While the EU said corporate mergers should be vetted at the EU level to prevent member states taking unjustified measures in their regard, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti argued national security was not for European institutions to judge. Should the government fail to persuade the European Commission that its use of the golden power rules was justified, Brussels could adopt a decision ordering it to revoke the conditions. Italy's use of its 'golden power' legislation is also under EU scrutiny in a separate process called EU Pilot. ($1 = 0.8672 euros)
