MPS: Lovaglio is considering a dual public offering involving Banco BPM and Banca Generali (Il Sole 24 Ore)
Possible ‘imminent’ convening of the board of directors
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - A ‘double twist’ is on the cards in the banking saga: according to a report in *Il Sole 24 Ore* in an article by editor-in-chief Fabio Tamburini, the chief executive of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Luigi Lovaglio, “is putting the finishing touches to a proposal to be presented to the bank’s board of directors: not one, but two extraordinary transactions as alternatives to the public takeover and exchange offer launched in recent months by Intesa Sanpaolo in agreement with the Unipol group – one public offer for Banco Bpm and one for Banca Generali”. “Lovaglio, a true poker player,” the newspaper notes, “is trying to play his ace to overturn the balance of power with Intesa in the final, decisive round of negotiations”. These are “highly risky moves, particularly on the eve of the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office’s decision on the MPS-Mediobanca investigation” and will have to overcome the obstacles posed by the passivity rule to which MPS has been subject since the announcement of Intesa’s OPAS. As for Banco BPM, moreover, one must take into account “the veto announced by the bank’s largest shareholder, the French bank Crédit Agricole, which controls just under a third of the share capital”, whilst a takeover of Banca Generali could become possible “only with the agreement of the parent company, Generali”. Lovaglio, Il Sole notes, ‘sees himself as the man for impossible missions’ and has a ‘wild card’ to play: ‘the sale, in whole or in part, of the 13 per cent stake in Generali that he controls via Mediobanca’ and on which ‘French finance might step in’. In any case, the banker has not yet informed the board of the Siena-based bank of his intentions, although “the directors closest to the chief executive have been alerted to a possible, imminent meeting”.
Red-Ppa-
