The project to strengthen an asset management hub around Anima pushes the stock market Bpm bank (+2,9%) and Anima Holding itself (+4,7%). The second step would then be the transfer of BancoPosta Fondi from Poste Spa and the entry of Cdp.
In short, there is enough to bring the titles of the interested groups to the stars in Piazza Affari. Over the weekend, investors' interest was triggered by a reconstruction by Il Sole 24 Ore which indicated the next steps in the process of mergers that would lead to the birth of one of the reference groups of Italian savings: the first step will be the acquisition of Aletti Gestiella by Anima, which is planning a board meeting today, Monday, to present an offer. According to Intermonte, the transaction, which some analysts estimate at between 650 and 700 million, would have a positive impact of 60 basis points on the capital ratios of Banco Bpm (shareholder of Anima with around 15%) and would then be followed by the transfer of BancoPosta Fondi by Poste Italiane (+0,16%) which currently holds 10% and which, with the transfer, should reach close to 25%. A part of this quota, according to the reconstruction of the Sole 24 Ore, would be sold by Poste to Cdp: the hypothesis concerns 10-15% for an evaluation of around 500 million.
Considering a value of 700 million for Aletti and a distribution agreement with Banco Bpm, Equita deems the transaction "interesting" and a multiple of 16 times the price/earnings ratio for Anima after synergies "reasonable" also considering that it would be significantly reduced the company's risk profile thanks to the stabilization of the agreement with the Banco Bpm group”: the demonstrated ability of the management to manage the integration of asset management companies and the presence of Cdp in the shareholding structure are other two factors judged positively. Intermonte also insists on the presence of CDP, emphasizing that in this way the political will to create a national player would be evident and, secondly, Anima would have a broad-shouldered partner for any important aggregation operations.
Meanwhile, in June 2017 the net inflows of the Anima group were positive for 290 million, an increase of 28,9% compared to the same month in 2016. The figure brings the amount since the beginning of the year to 1,7 billion, an amount which compares with 5,2 billion in the first six months of 2016, mainly affected by the lower propensity to invest in the retail channel, despite the recovery in recent months. It should be noted that in the period January-June 2017, inflows from portfolio management were positive by 1.039 million, but a sharp decline compared to 4.703 million in the same period of 2016. Inflows relating to open-ended funds were positive by 614 million, increase compared to 545 million in the first six months of 2016. Total assets under management at the end of June amounted to approximately 75 billion, up by 3,2% compared to the end of 2016.
