Another small step forward for Mps. Thursday, late evening, Consob has authorized the offer to convert the subordinated bonds into shares (including the “Fresh 2008” title) in the hands of 40 small savers. Today the Commission will comment on the prospectus of the increase. Retail customers had been excluded from the first part of the conversion into shares, which was accepted only by institutional investors for around 1 billion.
Bond conversion thus becomes an important part of thecapital strengthening operation of 5 billion euro which MPS - at the behest of the ECB - will have to close by 31 December. The convertible amount rose to 4,511 billion euros,
but only a part of these bonds will become shares, therefore the missing portion of the 5 billion will have to be raised on the market with thecapital increase.
Increase that Montepaschi officially launched yesterday, explaining that the maximum price is 24,9 euros per share, while the minimum was set at 1 €. Furthermore, the 35% of the increase will be intended for the general public in Italy, of which at least the 30% in pre-emption to the partners, while the 65% will be reserved for institutional placement. For the operation to go through, the support of the anchor investor will be essential, that is the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, which should contribute one billion euros.
If the path of the capital increase on the market fails, the state would come into play. According to La Repubblica, the Treasury has prepared a 15 billion euro fund to support the capital increases of the most troubled banks. Furthermore, the public coffers would also put guarantees for 80 billion on the plate to support any liquidity crises.
