The Car consultation pact, which brings together the major shareholders of Ubi with a stake equal to 19% of the capital, again rejects the exchange offer launched by Intesa Sanpaolo. A peremptory No that comes "a fortiori in light of the emergency in progress".
The syndicate agreement brings together the reference shareholders of Ubi Banca, including some Foundations and above all the cream of the Bergamo (Bombassei, Pilenga, Radici, Bosatelli and Andreoletti) and Brescia (Gussalli Beretta) families. According to them, the offer would be “devoid, even more today, of economic rationales for the generality of UBI shareholders". Not only that, the initiative would also involve "the compression of their legitimate rights". Harsh words, contained in a note published at 48 from the meeting scheduled for Wednesday. The members of the Car pact will also regularly participate in the meeting "through the sole representative, expressing support for management and the bank as a whole as well as inviting the bank to continue its activity with determination, appreciating the results and initiatives of this last period,” the press release continues.
Returning to the crux of the dispute, last February, Intesa Sanpaolo surprisingly announced its intention to promote a public exchange offer on Ubi equal to 4,9 billion euros. The operation also provides for the sale of some company branches to Bper Banca, of which Unipol is the main shareholder with 19,7% of the capital. Immediately after the proposal the CAR agreement had not mince words, defining it "inadmissible", but Intesa has decided to go ahead on its own way and on 6 March the ops was also presented to Consob.
Last March 31, as part of the communication relating to the stop the dividend, the CEO of Intesa Charles Messina he went back to talking about the offer, saying he was convinced of the fact that "the transaction, in this extraordinary phase, assumes even greater strategic value and represents an even more relevant perspective for Ubi Banca: high capitalisation, robust coverage of non-performing loans, size , diversification and investment capabilities are now more valuable than in normal times. The creation of a bank capable of generating further benefits for all stakeholders and of representing solid support to the real and social economy represents an overall strengthening of the country”, concluded the manager.
Opposite position to that of Car agreement which deems “the Intesa-Unipol offer unacceptable all the more reason in light of the current emergency, also because of a value of less than more than 60% of Ubi's assets, without considering the intangible assets and other intangible elements such as the prospects for the allocation of human resources, ongoing projects and their continuity , the close relationship with the reference territories”.
The CAR members say they are aware "of the value of banking aggregation projects aimed at forming larger entities', but believe that "those capable of creating value for the system and increasing plurality and competition on the market should be favoured, rather than decrease them".
Finally, the pact "is equally aware that Ubi Banca is solid, capitalised, well positioned and rooted in the most productive areas of the country, dynamic, with good development projects and equipped with quality management and human resources". We recall that the majority of Ubi's capital are owned by some large international funds and institutional investors, who will therefore have the last word.
At Piazza Affari the Ubi Bank share gains 3,68%, while Intesa flies by 8,73%, achieving one of the best performances of the Ftse Mib.
