by Giuseppe Fonte and Valentina Za
ROME (Reuters) – Crédit Agricole received informal support from the Italian government before announcing on Friday the increase in its stake in Banco BPM, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The increase in Crédit Agricole’s stake intensifies the ongoing battle in Italy’s banking sector. It began when UniCredit made a takeover bid for Banco BPM last month, derailing the government’s plan to facilitate the merger between Banco BPM and Monte dei Paschi di Siena.
When asked, Crédit Agricole declined to comment.
The French bank said on Friday that it had increased its stake from 9.9% to 15.1% in Banco BPM via derivative instruments, excluding a public purchase offer for the entire capital. The French banking group is seeking approval from the European Central Bank (ECB) to increase its stake in Banco BPM to 19.99%.
On condition of anonymity, the sources said that Crédit Agricole had previously informed the office of the President of the Italian Council, Giorgia Meloni, and had obtained its informal agreement.
CONSOLIDATION OF THE BANKING SECTOR
Separately, a source familiar with Crédit Agricole’s strategy told Reuters the French bank was seeking to strengthen its negotiating position to protect its commercial deals in Italy, its main market outside France.
Crédit Agricole became the main shareholder of Banco BPM in 2022, shortly after an abortive takeover attempt of Banco BPM by UniCredit.
Crédit Agricole is a partner of Banco BPM in the consumer credit and insurance sectors. Its asset management subsidiary, Amundi, has a distribution contract with UniCredit which expires in 2027.
Present in Italy since 1972, the French bank has experienced steady growth in the country, partly thanks to small acquisitions. Officials in Rome previously told Reuters that the bank had always reassured the government about its strategy, ruling out any overly aggressive moves to increase its market share.
That strategy has not changed, one of the sources said.
The green light from the Italian government, as well as that of the ECB, is necessary for Crédit Agricole to be able to further increase its stake in Banco BPM.
The Italian government has prerogatives allowing it to block or subject under certain conditions takeovers of companies in strategic sectors such as energy, telecommunications and banking.
By virtue of these prerogatives, the government has a say on the shareholding of strategic companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange when certain participation thresholds are crossed.
Andrea Orcel, UniCredit’s managing director, said her group could not afford to be sidelined as consolidation in the peninsula’s banking sector accelerates. Banco BPM had decided to buy fund manager Anima Holding and take a stake in Monte dei Paschi days before UniCredit launched its offer at a near-zero premium.
(Reporting Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Valentina Za in Milan; Claude Chendjou, editing by Kate Entringer)
Copyright © 2024 Thomson Reuters
I have over 8 years of experience working in the news industry. I have worked as a reporter, editor, and now managing editor at 247 News Agency. I am responsible for the day-to-day operations of the news website and overseeing all of the content that is published. I also write a column for the website, covering mostly market news.
