UniCredit said the purchase, which would be an all-stock deal, would allow the bank to “further strengthen its role as a leading pan-European banking group.”
Shares of UniCredit were down 1.7% on Monday in early deals, while Banco BPM
soared 5%.
The news follows a flurry of merger and acquisition announcements in the European banking sector this year. The industry has been considered ripe for consolidation for years, with cash-rich UniCredit often cited as a possible acquirer.
JP Morgan: UniCredit's Orcel 'hedging himself a bit' on Banco BPM, Commerzbank bidswatch now
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JP Morgan: UniCredit’s Orcel ‘hedging himself a bit’ on Banco BPM, Commerzbank bids
In September, UniCredit increased its stake in German lender Commerzbank to around 21% and submitted a request to boost the holding to up to 29.9%. Earlier that month, the Italian bank had taken a 9% stake in Commerzbank, with half of this shareholding acquired from the German government.
The German government has yet to bless the potential union, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz stating that “unfriendly attacks, hostile takeovers are not a good thing for banks,” in late-September comments carried by Reuters.
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