Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
By Valentina Za
MILAN (Reuters) – UnniCredit is ready to sit down with Credit Agricole (OTC 🙂 A spokesman for the Bank of Italy said in a LinkedIn post after the French lender increased its potential stake in Unicredit's holding target. (BIT 🙂 Banco BPM.
UniCredit's bid for its mate prompted Credit Agricole on Friday to enter a derivative that would increase its stake in BPM by 15% from 9.9% when the European Central Bank. Give the green light.
“Yesterday's news about the rise of Credit Agricole's stake in BPM does not change anything for UniCredit,” a UniCredit spokesman said on LinkedIn.
“We are always prepared to negotiate with CA because it is necessary, regardless of the size of their holdings.”
A source with knowledge of the Bank of France strategy told Reuters Agricole's focus was to protect business partnerships that allow companies to sell their products in Italy. Credit Agricole has rejected a full-fledged acquisition of BPM, of which it is the sole largest shareholder.
“UniCredit's initial move has made Credit Agricole's investment more expensive and more complex. BPM shareholders should not welcome this development,” a UniCredit spokesman said.
UniCredit last month claimed a seat on the Italian bank consolidation table by launching a bid that failed. Request 10 billion euros ($ 11 billion) for Banco BPM.
The move thwarted plans by the Roman government for a state-backed joint venture between BPM and the state-backed Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Both banks have partnered with fund manager Anima Holding, which Banco BPM is currently in the process of managing.
On Saturday, a source told Reuters that Credit Agricole had received unofficial support from the Roman government before announcing its increase in its stake in Banco BPM.
A UniCredit spokesman warned BPM shareholders that they should be wary of any potential combination of BPM with Credit Agricole's Italian business or any attempt to integrate BPM with Monte dei Paschi.
Bidding for Monte dei Paschi is a possible defense strategy for BPMs that have turned down UniCredit offers as too cheap.
A UniCredit spokesman said: “Credit Agricole's likely options are to integrate BPM with Credit Agricole Italia (attractive terms for Credit Agricole) or face a complex merger with Monte dei Paschi. This will destroy the BPM shareholder value. ” = 0.9463 EUR)
