Intesa Sanpaolo is studying an offer to buy Coutts & Co., a historic UK bank, put up for sale by RBS, which also carries out private banking and wealth management activities. The Financial Times writes it, citing financial sources.
The value of the operation, reports the site of the British newspaper, would amount to approximately 500 million pounds (around 630 million euros). Among the customers of the group there is also Queen Elizabeth II.
The managing director Carlo Messina, speaking with the FT, underlined that the Italian bank boasts an excess capital of 13 billion, certified by the Aqr conducted by the ECB, which in the meantime has risen to 16 billion. “We – he added – have the characteristics of potential consolidators”.
The manager also said he was optimistic about the economic situation for Italian companies that export: "A drop in the euro of 10% - he said - entails a possible positive impact of 1% on GDP".
Meanwhile, the Intesa Sanpaolo stock on the Stock Exchange (after +4,8% on Friday) rose today at the opening by one percentage point, to 2,388 euros.
