Bper: ECB authorises share buyback of up to 3% of share capital

Bper Banca announces that, late yesterday afternoon, Friday 19 June, authorisation from the ECB to purchase and dispose of a number of ordinary shares representing no more than 3 per cent of Bper’s share capital, for a total value not exceeding 750 million euros. The share buyback, explains a statement, is for strategic purposes and to reward shareholders, and was authorised by Bper’s annual general meeting on 23 April.

Pursuant to the ECB authorisation, which is valid for one year from the date of receipt, BPER may decide whether and when to make the purchases, including in several tranches (once the decision has been taken, it will be communicated to the market).

Two days ago, however, Unipol had acquired a potential 29.966% stake in BPER. This figure emerged from Consob’s update on significant shareholdings. The Bologna-based company has thus formally notified the authority of its increase in Bper’s share capital through financial instruments, following a transaction carried out on 7 June. The threshold of 25 per cent of the share capital was exceeded following the signing, with leading market operators, of two “total return share swap” contracts with leading market participants, which have as their underlying assets a total of 104,192,486 BPER shares, equivalent to approximately 4.99 per cent of the share capital. The contracts, with maximum maturities of 25 months and 35 months respectively, provide for both cash settlement of the price differential and the option of physical delivery of the underlying shares, subject to obtaining the necessary legal authorisations.

As Unipol already held an aggregate stake of approximately 24.99% of BPER’s share capital, comprising an actual stake of 19.98% and a potential stake of approximately 4.97%, it now holds an aggregate stake of approximately 29.96 per cent.