Top Monte dei Paschi investor warns against Banco BPM merger, Generali stake sale (updated)

Caltagirone SpA

14/05/2026 09:22

MPS should hold onto its Generali stake

Warns about BPM taking the upper hand in a deal with MPS

Says MPS CEO's role now requires consensus-building ability

Combines previous stories, adds details, comments throughout

By Gianluca Semeraro

May 14 (Reuters) -
The second-biggest investor in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena BMPS.MI warned on Thursday that the bank risked being "absorbed" by Banco BPM BAMI.MI in any future merger and urged it not to sell its stake in insurer Generali GASI.MI.

Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, an 83-year-old billionaire who owns 10.2% of MPS, made the comments in an interview with Corriere della Sera after voting against the return of CEO Luigi Lovaglio last month.

Close to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Caltagirone is a dominant force in Italian finance, with holdings including a stake in Generali.

Caltagirone's intervention highlights growing friction over the future course of MPS, as Rome presses for consolidation across Italy's fragmented banking industry.

His opposition to a potential Banco BPM tie-up and to any sale of the Generali stake underscores shareholder unease over Lovaglio's plans and could complicate efforts to secure a merger seen as key to the bank's long-term future.

Caltagirone said he hoped Lovaglio could adapt to the need for an MPS chief able to build consensus and set out a clear long-term strategy.

"He's worked hard but there is no man for all seasons. I hope he can transform," he said.

He warned that last month's shareholder vote
could lead
 MPS to be "absorbed" by Banco BPM in a merger, with the combined group's headquarters likely in Milan rather than Siena.

Banco BPM is an investor in MPS and a tie-up between the two has long been under consideration.

Caltagirone, who hails from Sicily and built his business empire in Rome, complained large Italian banks were too concentrated in the north.

Last year he backed MPS' takeover of Milan-based Mediobanca MDBI.MI, which landed it the Generali stake.

Caltagirone said he had opposed the full merger of Mediobanca into MPS that Lovaglio is pursuing, and also challenged the CEO’s view that the 13% stake in Generali is not
essential
 for the bank.

Large Italian lenders are keen on Generali because of potential partnerships and favourable capital treatment of insurance holdings, he said.

"If all big banks want it, I don't understand why the one that has it should sell it," he said.

 (Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; Writing by Valentina Za; Editing by Giulia Segreti and Louise Heavens)

 ((gianluca.semeraro@tr.com; +39 06 80 307 741;))