French lender Crédit Agricole (CA) said on Wednesday that it had secured approval from the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise its stake in Italy’s Banco BPM to 19.9%.
CA currently holds 9.9% of Banco BPM’s share capital through financial instruments, although it plans to convert these into actual shares.
This would take its stake to 19.8% and “is consistent with Crédit Agricole’s strategy as a long-term investor and partner of Banco BPM”, the lender said in a statement.
CA became Banco BPM’s main investor in 2022, although it added that it is not vying for full ownership of the Italian bank.
Also on Wednesday, larger Italian lender UniCredit said it would be launching its takeover offer for Banco BPM on 28 April. The bid, which offers 0.175 new shares per BancoBPM share, will close on 23 June.
Although CA is not preparing a counterbid, the French lender’s move to increase its stake in BancoBPM could complicate UniCredit’s takeover. This is because the bank will have more voting power, meaning it will be easier to block certain proposals.
CA started increasing its stake in Banco BPM late last year, at the same time UniCredit was circling.
In November, the larger Italian lender made an unsolicited €10 billion bid for Banco BPM.
According to a UniCredit press statement released at the time, the offer sought to “strengthen the bank’s competitive position in Italy, one of the Group’s core markets … generating significant long-term value for all stakeholders and for Italy”.
BancoBPM rejected the bid later that month, arguing that it undervalued the lender and did not “reflect in any way the profitability and further potential to create value for Banco BPM shareholders”.
Another player in the current spat is Crédit Agricole’s asset manager Amundi.
Amundi relies on UniCredit for a large portion of its sales in Italy due to an existing partnership between the two, set to expire in around two years.
The relationship is further strained by the fact that UniCredit’s bid for Banco BPM hinders it from pursuing a separate takeover.
Banco BPM is looking to acquire asset manager Anima Holding, seeking to diversify its revenue streams as interest rates fall.
UniCredit and CA have different opinions on the details of Banco BPM’s bid for Anima.
