Banco BPM-MPS: Crédit Agricole puts the brakes on: ‘We were never informed of any concrete plans, but it’s hard to see any value in the deal. Nothing will happen without us’

In the race for a possible alliance between BancoBpm and Mps, Crédit Agricole has thrown a spanner in the works. The French group has not formally ruled out any merger plans, but has made it clear that any deal involving Piazza Meda will have to be approved by the largest French shareholder.

The message comes from the top management of Banque Verte on the day of the quarterly results announcement, whilst rumours – which have never been denied – continue to circulate in the market regarding talks between Siena and Milan on devising an alternative to the 30.6 billion OPAS launched by Intesa Sanpaolo for Siena. “As always, there are many scenarios on the table but, at present, we are not aware of any concrete plans” between MPS and Banco BPM, said Crédit Agricole’s CEO, Olivier Gavalda, during a conference call with analysts. He added, “We have not been contacted by any other parties regarding potential involvement in a project of this kind.”

However, Gavalda went beyond the industrial and financial merits of a potential deal. “At this stage, it is very difficult to envisage how a merger between MPS and BPM could create value for BPM’s shareholders,” he said. The CEO went on to explain that he was “unable to say whether this project could create value for shareholders”, precisely because, as things stand, there is a lack of concrete information to assess.

For Crédit Agricole, the key issue remains the creation of long-term value. “Any transaction involving Banco Bpm should create long-term value for Crédit Agricole and for the other shareholders,” Gavalda clarified. “With our 29.3 per cent stake, we are by far the largest shareholder and, as such, we will have a say in any transaction involving the company.” Any potential project, he added, will be analysed “in terms of its strategic importance, the risk of implementation and its ability to create long-term value”. However, the head of Crédit Agricole – a bank which has four directors on BPM’s board – has sent a message that leaves no room for doubt: “Nothing can be done without us, and nothing can be done against us.”

Crédit Agricole’s top management are not shying away from indicating what their preferred scenario would be in the Italian banking landscape, which involves a merger between BPM and Crédit Agricole’s Italian arm, Crédit Agricole Italia. “Naturally, one of the scenarios we would prefer would be a merger between Banco BPM and Crédit Agricole Italia, because it would enable us to create value and would also allow us to strengthen our presence in Italia,” said Clotilde L’Angevin, deputy general manager and CFO of the group. L’Angevin also reiterated that she had not received any ‘concrete’ proposals regarding a possible merger between Banco BPM and MPS.