MILANO (ITALPRESS) – The Board of Directors of Banco BPM unanimously decided to send to Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. a communication in which Banco BPM represented its interest in starting a dialogue aimed at discussing and agreeing a potential aggregation transaction agreed between the two institutes. The operation, structured according to the typical methods of a merger of equals, would allow the creation of a new banking and financial group, able to compete, in size, excellence of products and potential economies of scale, with the main national and European banking and financial operators, while preserving the strengths and specificities of the two realities.
In this context, the operation would be developed in the process of integration of Mediobanca currently in operation efficiently and complementaryly, allowing a coordinated and contextual development of the factories involved and strengthening its industrial contribution within the new Group. In line with this approach, the aggregation would be based on a governance structure based on criteria of balance and representation, aimed at reflecting the contribution and specificity of the two banks and ensuring an adequate involvement in the main decision-making processes, as well as safeguarding the historical locations and the link with the reference territories.
The operation would merge on a clear strategic rationale, based on a series of key elements that, as a whole, express the main drivers of creation of value of the Group resulting from the aggregation: creation of a new national sample, second domestic operator for size, able to cope with the new challenges dictated by the evolution of the banking market and to support the growth of the Country; internal integration with a complete coverage on all the national territory, with a strong presence in the Italian regions Stock capitalization potentially higher than Euro 50 billion, resulting in increased positioning in the capital market and expansion of the investor base
The operation would also present a significant attractiveness from the financial point of view for all shareholders, which would benefit from: a balance position at the top of the sector, with a fully loaded CET1 ratio pro-forma equal to approximately 15%, without considering the additional potential benefits deriving – downstream of the regulatory and regulatory checks of the case – from the possible extension of Danish Compromise to the participation in Generali; a creation of value equal to at least 5.5 billion Banco BPM hopes to be able to quickly start a comparison with MPS and its management, in order to explore the opportunity and, in the presence of a mutual interest, define the main elements of a possible aggregation through a structured and collaborative path. The operation would allow the creation of a new market leader, while at the same time preserving the strengths and specificities of the two realities and their strong bond with the reference territories. As an agreed and developed operation according to a merger of equals approach, the integration process would favour a more effective implementation of the aggregation, a minimisation of the risk of execution and a full enhancement of industrial complementarities, for the benefit of shareholders and all stakeholders, while contributing to the strengthening of the Italian banking system.
– Photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
