Intesa Sanpaolo bids €30.6bn for Monte dei Paschi di Siena

Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, launched an unsolicited cash-and-share offer worth 30.6 billion euros on Monday to acquire rival Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS). The move, which would be Italy's largest-ever banking deal, directly counters a rival merger proposal from Banco BPM and could reshape the European banking landscape.

The bid, which carries a 12.5% premium over MPS's closing share price on Friday, would create the eurozone's second-largest listed banking group by market value after Spain's Santander. The combined entity would have a market capitalization of 126 billion euros and a net income target of 16 billion euros by 2029. To address anticipated antitrust concerns, Intesa has struck a deal with insurer Unipol, the main investor in BPER Banca. If successful, Intesa would sell approximately 635 MPS branches and the MPS brand to Unipol.

This arrangement is designed to preserve the MPS retail banking name and facilitate further consolidation. Unipol plans to combine these assets with BPER Banca to create a new entity operating under the Banca Monte dei Paschi brand. A capital increase of up to 2.5 billion euros at Unipol Assicurazioni is planned to support the...