Italy's Unipol lifts Popolare Sondrio stake in bank-insurance push (updated)

UnipolSai Assicurazioni SpA

28/09/2023 11:01

(Recasts with details on Unipol's strategy for BPER)
       MILAN, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Italian financial group
Unipol Gruppo  UNPI.MI , owner of the country's second-largest
insurer, has more than doubled its stake in small lender
Popolare di Sondrio (BPSO)  BPSI.MI , in a move that could
potentially drive consolidation in the sector.
    Unipol spent 235.6 million euros ($248 million) to buy 10.2%
of Lombardy-based BPSO at a 4% premium versus Wednesday's
closing price, or a 10.5% premium over the last month's average.
    Trading at 0.6 times its estimated tangible equity in
2024-2025, BPSO is some 15% more expensive than its closer
peers, said Equita, one of the advisors to the purchase.
    Unipol, which is already the biggest shareholder in Italy's
fourth-largest bank BPER  EMII.MI , had first invested in BPSO
in 2021, tightening in this way their insurance partnership. It
is also BPER's insurance partner.
    Long seen as an attractive target, BPSO was the last large
cooperative bank in Italy to ditch that status, which shielded
it from potential takeovers, complying at last with a government
reform after losing a court battle to stop it.
    Unipol's stakebuilding has long stoked speculation of an
eventual tie-up between the BPSO and BPER.
    To build a wider network for his insurance products, Unipol
Chief Carlo Cimbri in 2020 bought some 600 branches as part of
bank Intesa Sanpaolo's  ISP.MI  takeover of rival UBI.
    The move aided that merger and propelled BPER onto a growth
path by boosting its assets by 40%, after years-long attempts to
clinch a merger with rival Banco BPM  BAMI.MI  led nowhere.
    While still busy integrating the branches, BPER last year
bought troubled peer Carige with Unipol's backing.
        Unipol owns nearly 20% of BPER and has supported its
growth by taking part in a 800 million euro capital raise that
helped it buy the Intesa-UBI branches.
    Like Banco BPM, BPER is seen as a potential candidate to
merge with Monte dei Paschi  BMPS.MI  which must be
re-privatised by the state.
        However, a dearth of interested buyers in the near term
has pushed Rome to evaluate instead possible share placements to
work towards re-privatisation commitments, pending a more
permanent solution.
    Mediobanca and Equita handled the share purchase on behalf
of Unipol.  ($1 = 0.9509 euros)

 (Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; Writing by Valentina Za
Editing by Ros Russell)
 ((gianluca.semeraro@tr.com; +39 06 80 307 741;))