Banca Sistema thud at Piazza Affari, under 1.80 offer price launched by Banca CF+

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Banca Sistema targeted by sales on the day that Banca CF+ launched an all-share takeover bid. The stock of the bank led by Gianluca Garbi fell more than 11%, dropping below the value of EUR 1.80, the price offered by Banca CF+ for each Banca Sistema share. The transaction, which is not aimed at delisting, provides for the consideration to be divided between cash (1.382 euro) and the allocation, for the remaining portion, of 21 shares of Kruso Kapital, a subsidiary of Banca Sistema, subject to a 1:98 ratio for each share tendered to the Offer. Banca Cf+ and Gianluca Garbi, Sgbs and Garbifin have entered into an agreement providing for an irrevocable commitment of the shareholders towards CF+ to accept the Offer, bringing in a total of approximately 24.86% of the share capital of Banca Sistema. Banca CF+ has total assets of EUR 2 billion and a Cet1 ratio of 13.5%: following the completion of the offer, the new banking group will have total assets of over EUR 6.5 billion and loans to customers of over EUR 4.3 billion.

"The offer was unexpected," commented analysts at Intermonte, pointing out that at the start of trading the offer was at a discount to the opening stock market price (equal to EUR 1.994 per share). To be evaluated then, according to the experts, "the industrial implications of a merger with CF+". Banca CF+, in fact, intends to merge by incorporation into Banca Sistema. "The integration of Banca CF+ with Banca Sistema makes it possible to combine skills, technologies and industrial vision to create a more solid and innovative operator, capable of growing in its chosen business segments," commented Iacopo De Francisco, CEO and general manager of Banca CF+, specifying the willingness to remain "a listed reality", in order to offer "the opportunity to aggregate other operators that can bring distinctive skills and assets".