Intesa launches 30.6 billion euro bid for Monte dei Paschi
What's new: The move counters Banco BPM's merger approach and could create the eurozone's No. 2 bank by market value.
Intesa Sanpaolo launched an unsolicited 30.6 billion euro cash-and-share offer for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena on Monday, opening a contest for control of Italy's oldest bank. The bid values MPS at a 12.5% premium to its June 5 closing price and comes a day after Banco BPM's board approved seeking talks on a "merger of equals" with MPS. Intesa said the combined group would rank as the eurozone's second-largest bank by market capitalization after Santander. To ease antitrust concerns, it struck a deal with Unipol to sell a banking business including 635 MPS branches and the MPS brand if the takeover succeeds. MPS was rescued by the state in 2017 and re-privatized in 2023.