UniCredit bid is hostile says BPM director

A 10 billion euro all-share takeover
bid for Banco BPM by Italy's second biggest bank UniCredit is a
hostile one, a BPM director said Tuesday.

   
UniCredit on Monday launched the surprise 10 bid for its
domestic rival Banco BPM which CEO Andrea Orcel said would take
precedence over a potential move on German lender Commerzbank.

   
Under the acquisition of Banco BPM, which has long been a
potential buyout target, UniCredit would become the
third-largest lender in Europe for market capitalization, after
British group HSBC and Switzerland's UBS, and ahead of Spain's
Santader.

   
The government is unhappy about the bid as it had favoured the
creation of a so-called 'third pole' in domestic banking between
State-controlled Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), out of which
the State is currently divesting after major restructuring, and
BPM.

   
Entering BPM's office Tuesday morning for a meeting to assess
the bid, director Mauro Paoloni answered "yes" when asked if the
UniCredit move was hostile.

   
Meanwhile French banking giant Credit Agricole, the largest
shareholder in Banco BPM with 9.2% of the capital, said it had
not asked the European Central Bank for authorization to exceed
the 10% threshold of the bank led by Giuseppe Castagna.

   

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