New round in the banking consolidation game. Intesa Sanpaolo, together with Unipol, a move that will also have repercussions for its investee Bper, on Monday launched a public purchase and exchange offer (OPAS) worth 30.6 billion euros for the entire share capital of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) banking group, in which the Italian state still holds a small stake through the Economy Ministry.
Unipol will propose to Bper, of which it is the main shareholder, a merger with the Siena branches, from which a post-merger group would be created under the name Banca Monte dei Paschi. To support the deal, a capital increase at Unipol Assicurazioni of up to 2.5 billion euros is planned.
