"It makes me laugh that when we talk about Italianness we do it in French: when I talk about Italy and Italianness, I do it in Italian". Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, does not name names but the joke is transparent and is a dig at the CEO of Unicredit, Jean Pierre Mustier, who recently spoke in French about the opportunity to defend the Italian spirit of Generali, of which Mediobanca (which also has Unicredit as a shareholder) is the first shareholder.
Messina ruled out that today the board of directors of Intesa, which will deal with accounts, talk about the Generali case but outlined the path along which his bank will move.
First: "We don't do privateering operations: this story (Editor's note of a possible stake by Intesa in Generali) stems from a leak concerning a series of strategic analyzes that the CEO (of Intesa) was carrying out with various possible alternatives".
Second: Intesa has before it "several possible alternatives, which we have decided to make transparent" and which vary from endogenous growth options to exogenous growth options. But as of now, in the event of extraordinary transactions, "our constraints are transparent" and concern assets, dividends and the price. "If we have to reduce our capital strength, rather - added Messina who spoke on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Intesa San Paolo - we won't do the operation". As for the coupons, "we pay important dividends and we are a company that has the prospect of income growth and therefore of growth in dividends". Finally, in the choice of future operations "the theme of the value of the price enters".
Third: in conclusion "like Intesa we take the necessary time to make our assessments" on the various alternatives on the market which will be based on equity, dividends and prices. The Generali or Mediobanca options therefore remain on the table but they are not the only ones and the modalities are all to be evaluated.
