Le Banco Bpm insurance policies are about to unleash an all-French derby between the Credit Agricole and the insurance giant Axa, which has been aiming to strengthen its presence in Italy for years. Axa's interest in the insurance branch of the bank led by Giuseppe Castagna has been known for some time, but the news of the last few hours, according to reports this morning La Repubblica, is the presentation of a non-binding offer from Credit Agricole for Banco Bpm policies, of which the Italian subsidiary of the French has recently become the first shareholder with 9,2% of the capital.
Banco Bpm: Castagna referees the French derby on policies between Credit Agricole and Axa
Now it's up to Castagna and the Board of Directors of the Italian Bank to decide what to do and it is by no means excluded that Piazza Meda prefers to keep all the insurance business. But it had been clear for days that the bank was thinking of optimizing the insurance business, and that is since it surprised the market on 12 April buying back 81% of Bipiemme Vita from Covea, which sells policies at Banco Bpm branches.
According to rumors, the French of Axa would have offered Banco Bpm 1,5 billion euros to take over all the insurance activities of the institute and it was at that point that Credit Agricole started a counterattack with an operation aimed at increasing the insurance business.
The Italian Bank has gained 12% on the Stock Exchange in the last week: today a new test
Now a good game is opening on the bancassurance of the Italian institute e Castagna will find himself in front of two roads: leverage its insurance business on its own by selling policies through its extensive network of bank branches or open a bidding process between Credit Agricole and Axa. The trend of Banco Bpm share on the Stock Exchange, which gained almost 12% in the past week, will already be a window test today.
