UniCredit announced on Monday that it has launched an all-share offer for rival Banco BPM, valued at €10.09 billion.
The Italian lender is offering €6,657 per share, slightly higher than Friday’s closing price of €6,644. The acquisition, an all-stock deal, aims to strengthen UniCredit’s role as a leading pan-European banking group. The company will submit the offer document to stock-market regulator CONSOB within 20 days.
If successful, the deal would make UniCredit Europe’s third-largest lender by market capitalisation. Banco BPM has long been considered a potential buyout target.
“Europe needs stronger and larger banks to develop its economy and compete with other major economic blocs,” said UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel. He also stated that the bank’s stake in Germany’s Commerzbank “is an investment” and “has time to mature.”
The bid for Banco BPM comes amid stalled efforts to acquire Commerzbank, a deal opposed by Germany’s government. In September, UniCredit increased its Commerzbank stake to 21% and filed to raise it to 29.9%. Earlier, it had acquired a 9% stake, half of which came from the German government.
Meanwhile, Banco BPM recently offered €1.6 billion for asset manager Anima and acquired a 5% stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS).
Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti referenced Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz, warning, “The safest way to lose a war is engaging on two fronts, though it may not apply this time.”
