Bper: capital increase at the start, stock sinks

Bper's capital increase gets off to a bad start. The Emilian bank, which to finance the acquisition of 532 branches of Ubi Banca (as established in the transaction leading to the merger with Intesa Sanpaolo) has decided on a capital increase of 802 million euros, begins the week on the Stock Exchange finishing in volatility auction at the opening of the session, and then coming to lose more than 8% in mid-morning, below 1,2 euros per share. Not only that: option rights, which grant the possibility of subscribing 8 new shares at 0,9 euro each for every 5 shares, in turn sink by around 40%, around 0,395 euro. In light of current prices, the value of the combined stock+right (1,5411) is more than 18% lower than Friday's closing pre-adjustment price.

Il membership period ends on October 23rd with the rights negotiation going on between now and 19 October. Analysts have revised the target price of the Emilian bank from 3,2 to 2,1 euros to incorporate the terms of the capital increase, and as Equita recalls, the acquisition of the Ubi branches will allow Bper to maintain a Cet of around 13% . The shares are also slowed down by the declarations of the Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Vandelli, who in an interview with Corriere della Sera spoke of the importance for Bper of being part of "the third largest Italian banking hub" and of the fact that, in the second quarter of 2021, "the bank will have about 40% more assets", but it has also stopped the rumors of M&A. In particular, Vandelli said that "there is nothing concrete in the hypothesis of a merger with Banco Bpm".

According to the prospectus, the shareholders of Bper and the holders of the convertible bonds "who do not fully exercise the option rights to which they are entitled would suffer, in the event of full subscription of the capital increase, a maximum dilution of their shareholding in the fully diluted share capital of 61,52%". But those who subscribe to the offer will also suffer a dilution of 4,04% (in the event of full subscription of the capital increase), as a consequence of the fact that the new shares are also offered as an option to the bearers of the convertible bonds. Finally, it can be recalled that Bper estimates the cost of the capital increase at 31 million, the net proceeds of which will therefore fall to 771 million.