The board of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (Mps) has approved a plan by chief executive Luigi Lovaglio to launch two separate public exchange offers for Banco Bpm and Banca Generali, in a bid to build an industrial alternative to Intesa Sanpaolo's public tender and exchange offer (Opas) for the Siena-based bank.
Under Italian takeover rules, an Opas (offerta pubblica di acquisto e scambio) is a public bid combining cash and shares, while an Ops (offerta pubblica di scambio) is share-only. Intesa Sanpaolo's Opas is the bid for Mps; the two Ops now launched by Mps are its countermove against Banco Bpm and Banca Generali.
