(Reuters) – Italian bank Mediobanca on Monday announced a 6.3 billion euro ($7.15 billion) offer to acquire Banca Generali, a private bank controlled by the Assicurazioni Generali, using as payment shares it owns the insurer.
The move comes as Mediobanca strives to fend off a hostile bid by Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Given the MPS’ bid Mediobanca needs to seek shareholder approval for the Banca Generali acquisition, which it will seek on June 16.
Mediobanca is the largest investor in Generali, which accounts for over a third of its income. Its 13% stake is worth around 6.5 billion euros at current market prices.
Last week Mediobanca scored a victory against two rebel investors which have long opposed both the Mediobanca and Generali CEOs and are now backing MPS’ bid.
The exchange offer translates to a deal price of 54.17 euros per share, an 11% premium to Banca Generali’s last close.
The deal aims to merge Banca Generali into the Mediobanca Group Wealth Management Division, the company said.
The share exchange offer is expected to be completed by end-October 2025, Mediobanca said in the statement.
Normally rare in finance, hostile moves are sweeping through Italian banking, which is bracing for slowing revenue as interest rates decline after fuelling record profits in recent years.
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(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Rashmi Aich and Valentina Za)
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