More than three hours after the start of trading, the share on the Stock Exchange of Banco Bpm is still unable to make a price. In the pre-opening, the price indication was 3,48 euros, against the 3,23 euros of the previous closing, with a theoretical increase of 8%. Some have triggered the wave of speculation on the institute's shares rumors about a possible takeover bid coming from Unicredit.
In the same minutes, the shares in Piazza Affari of the bank led by Andrea Orcel lost 0,9%, to 15,706 euros, while the Ftse Mib lost 1,41%, with financial and banking at the end of the basket.
As reported by the newspaper Il Messaggero, Unicredit could launch the acquisition proposal to the shareholders of Banco Bpm already this weekend.
The "no comment" of Unicredit and the clarifications of the Messenger
When asked about the veracity of these rumors, Unicredit replied with a "no comment".
The rumors, “from government sources and also accredited by financial sources – reads the website of the Roman newspaper – would like Banco Bpm to be back in Unicredit's sights again and even yesterday evening there was talk of a possible takeover bid at the turn of the weekend. But for the moment no comment has been released by the Milanese institute. However, financial circles let it be known that at the moment no maneuver would be in progress, also because there would be no conditions for a quality merger in line with the objectives of the managing director Andrea Orcel”.
Orcel's warning on presentation of accounts
On the occasion of presentation of the 2021 accounts, the managing director of Unicredit, Andrea Orcel, had explained that the bank could study the prospect of a merger only if the operation favored the pursuit of three objectives: accelerate the lender's business, create value for shareholders without hindering the shareholders' compensation program and make strategic sense.
Unicredit closed last year's financial statements with a bookable net profit of 1,5 billion, which compares with the loss of 2,78 billion recorded in 2020, while the underlying net profit reached 3,9 billion, up $2,6 billion year over year.
12.30 hours update
"As part of its activity and in line with the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan, UniCredit continues to evaluate all the strategic options available and will not fail to keep the market informed of any concrete developments - commented a Bank spokesperson - We also specify that no extraordinary meeting of the board of directors has been convened”.
Meanwhile, Banco Bpm's stock entered trading and recorded an increase of 6,5%, to 3,445 euros. This is due to the gap of the best performance on the Ftse Mib, which in the same minutes travels in the red by 1,2%.
