Latest news with #PopolarediSondrio
Reuters
03-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italian lender BPER boosts Pop Sondrio bid to $6.39 billion
July 3 (Reuters) - Italian lender BPER ( opens new tab has increased its bid for smaller rival Popolare di Sondrio ( opens new tab to 5.44 billion euros ($6.39 billion), the bank said on Thursday, heating up the race in the country's financial sector that has seen a flurry of deals and offers. The bid represents a premium of 3% based on Popolare di Sondrio (BPSO) shares' last closing price, valuing the bank at 5.44 billion euros, according to Reuters' calculation. The revised offer includes 1.450 newly issued BPER shares and an additional cash consideration of 1.00 euro per BP Sondrio share. The bid comes just a day after Italy's antitrust authority, AGCM, conditionally approved BPER's deal for BPSO, stating that BPER is required to sell six branches, which includes 5 of BPER and 1 of BP Sondrio, within 10 months. BPER and BPSO have in common their main shareholder, insurer Unipol , which distributes its products through both banks. Unipol agreed to BPER's bid last week. In February, BPER joined in a raft of takeover bids rocking the country's financial sector, with an initial offer of 4.3 billion euros for all BPSO shares. BPER's market capitalisation of about 10.9 billion euros is more than double mid-sized lender BPSO's market value of 5.32 billion euros, according to LSEG data. The increased offer from Italy's fourth-largest bank comes just weeks after BPER Chief Executive Gianni Franco Papa said that the bank would stick to its current bid. Italy's banking sector has in the last year witnessed a wave of bids and offers, including UniCredit's ( opens new tab all-share offer for smaller peer Banco BPM ( opens new tab, creating a complex web of deals between some of its biggest players. ($1 = 0.8511 euros)
Reuters
28-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Unipol chair hints that ING could be studying Popolare di Sondrio bid
MILAN, March 28 (Reuters) - Unipol Chairman Carlo Cimbri said on Friday a foreign bank was studying a potential bid for Popolare di Sondrio ( opens new tab to rival the one unveiled by Italy's BPER Banca ( opens new tab. Insurer Unipol is the leading shareholder in both BPER and Pop Sondrio and has thrown its weight behind BPER's bid for Pop Sondrio. Speaking at the presentation of Unipol's multi-year plan, Cimbri hinted at Dutch bank ING as a possible suitor by saying the bank interested in Pop Sondrio was the colour of a journalist's tie, which was orange. ING did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cimbri said Unipol could be open to considering rival bids for Pop Sondrio. Asked about unconfirmed rumours of foreign interest for the bank, Cimbri said: "It looks like a foreign group has hired lawyers and advisers to study a potential deal for Popolare di Sondrio: it's totally legitimate. We're an investor and if someone else makes a spectacular bid it's not like we've promised eternal love, we don't pick sides." "We don't have eternal friends or eternal foes, only our interests are eternal: ... we're open to any proposition."
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)
