Three Smart Bank offers: illimity also enters the race track

The Smart Bank dossier, the fintech bank controlled by Cirdan and commissioned by Bankitalia in December 2023, is coming to a head. In recent days, as reported by Il Sole 24 Ore, the two commissioners appointed by Via Nazionale, Enrico Ajello and Andrea Guaccero, assisted by Prometeia, have received offers from three parties interested in carrying out a possible transaction: they are Illimity, the bank led by Corrado Passera; a small but active popular bank in Central Italy; and a Spanish financial company. The three proposals came at the end of a long data room phase held over the past few months and concluded in the first half of June, which attracted the interest of several parties including banks, vehicles and funds.

A phase of in-depth discussion and analysis between the various parties involved will now begin, which realistically could yield some results in September. It must be said that the search for a solution for the reality born from the ashes of Banca del Sud and ended up in Bankitalia's sights for serious accounting irregularities (there is talk of an erroneous weighting of the riskiness of the assets in the balance sheet that has wiped out the capital ratios) is anything but a foregone conclusion, also because it is difficult to reconcile the interests of the various parties involved.

Illimity itself, the most structured entity to carry out the takeover, is reportedly considering what to do. The group led by the banker and former minister would have an interest in entering the certificate business, a niche (but profitable) segment on which the commissioned digital bank had strongly focused. In this context, however, it cannot be ruled out either that illimity, having abandoned the impaired loans business and within the framework of a broader reflection, may also consider broadening the dialogue not only with the bank's commissioner structure (which in itself cubes about 200 million in terms of funding, and a little more than a dozen employees), but also aims to involve the reference shareholders, Cirdan Capital Management, a company under English law (not subject to or impacted by Bankitalia's administrative measures), which in turn controls Cirdan Group Spa (which is also under commissioner). Crossroads and working hypotheses, indeed, which need time to mature. It will be discussed, perhaps, in September.

Another chapter concerns the Spanish financial company: the vehicle, active in personal loans and headed by Russian financiers, is said to have targeted Smart Bank's banking licence itself with the intention of landing in Italy. But the trading of banking licences, as is well known, is certainly not looked on favourably by the Vigilance. Hence some perplexities.

More well-founded appears to be the interest of the small popular bank active in Central Italy, which could instead aim to enter a digital business and platform with a view to a future transformation into a joint-stock company.