Intesa Sanpaolo, through the Banca dei Territori Division, brought together small and medium-sized Italian businesses in Milan to relaunch its strategic approach dedicated to extraordinary finance for SMEs, with the aim of accelerating growth and strengthening the competitiveness of Italy's manufacturing sector in a changing economic and geopolitical environment. The Group, led by Carlo Messina, is giving new impetus to an integrated advisory model, unique in the national landscape, which has already achieved significant results.
Intesa Sanpaolo's achievements in extraordinary finance for SMEs
From 2020 for SME customers of the Division led by Stefano Barrese, i.e., with a turnover of up to €350 million, have completed structured finance transactions worth over €10 billion, including over €2 billion in the first nine months of 2025, and more than 35 M&A and IPO transactions have been completed in recent years. Recent market surveys show that Italian companies report that they recognize Intesa Sanpaolo as their bank of reference in over 60% of cases, on average. For more structured companies, eligible for extraordinary finance transactions, this percentage rises to 90%.
Market potential and companies ready for the dimensional leap
A successful model that today serves over 6.000 Italian SMEs that, due to their size and value, have been identified by Intesa Sanpaolo as potentially ready to undertake development paths through new extraordinary finance operations. The key factor is collaboration between the Banca dei Territori and IMI Corporate & Investment Banking (IMI CIB) divisions, which guarantees a unique synergy in the sector, aimed at offering Italian SMEs financial instruments once reserved only for large industrial groups, to complete extraordinary transactions such as IPOs and M&As. Banca dei Territori, which has 250.000 SME clients, has provided €36 billion in new credit to Italian families and small and medium-sized enterprises as of September 30, 2025.
The services and tools made available by Intesa Sanpaolo
To make these services accessible, a dedicated structure has been established, staffed by over 70 Investment Bankers, divided into three regional teams and five specialized desks (M&A, ECM, Structured Finance, Capital Structure Solutions, and Post-Closing). Intesa Sanpaolo will continue to bring corporate finance topics to the entire country, enabling entrepreneurs to increase awareness and develop their business through new tools. A roadshow will start in 2026 dedicated to the new advisory model, together with the continuation of the collaboration with Euronext Elite, which has already seen over 500 companies from the Banca dei Territori Division join the process.
Stefano Barrese, Head of the Territorial Banking Division at Intesa SanpaoloItalian SMEs are currently facing an uncertain environment and recognize the need to find innovative development paths that transcend the horizons of established instruments and embrace extraordinary finance, new investments, IPOs, and M&As. Intesa Sanpaolo acts as a bridge between the real economy and finance, supporting entrepreneurs in designing the best growth strategies with a sustainable, long-term approach. The synergies we have between the Group's divisions allow us to offer corporate finance dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises, a model unique in the national landscape, consolidating our role in supporting the productive fabric and the country by providing approximately €2 billion annually for this type of transaction. Our goal is to make SMEs even more competitive, supporting their long-term growth.
The appointment at the Italian Stock Exchange
The innovative advisory model was the focus of the discussion held at the Italian Stock Exchange headquarters during the "Grow to Compete" meeting with numerous entrepreneurs. Representing Intesa Sanpaolo, speakers included Stefano Barrese, Head of the Banca dei Territori Division; Gregorio De Felice, Chief Economist; Anna Roscio, Executive Director of Corporate Sales & Marketing; and Andrea Falchetti, Head of Mid-Cap Corporate Finance for the IMI CIB Division. Following opening remarks by Fabrizio Testa, CEO of the Italian Stock Exchange, Alessandro Fracassi, CEO of Moltiply Group and Mavriq; Luca Ferrari, CEO of Bending Spoons; Giovanni Ranieri, CEO of Next Geosolutions Europe; Matteo Moretti, CEO of Lynx; and Massimo Gianolli, CEO of Generalfinance.
