New twist in the tug of war between Government, Unicredit and Banco Bpm. Gae Aulenti Square has renounced in the hearing at the TAR at request for suspension on the golden power. The Court has therefore set the hearing on the merits of the appeal for the 9 July. The renunciation comes after the communication on the takeover bid by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on May 30, "which clarified the terms in which the monitoring activities will be carried out", explains the bank.
"Unicredit takes note of the tenor of the response provided by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and in exchange has withdrawn the request for provisional measures to allow for a constructive dialogue with the Ministry of Economy and Finance – the note reads –. unicredit maintains its position on the merits of the golden power, but has asked that the ruling of the Lazio TAR be accelerated to provide definitive clarity".
Today's hearing was held before the first section of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court and concerned the Prime Ministerial Decree of 18 April 2025 relating to the exchange offer for all the shares of Banco Bpm with which the government had imposed very strict limits on the offer within the procedure of golden power, including the obligation for Unicredit to maintain the level of BTPs in its portfolio unchanged, that of not reducing the loan/deposit ratio practiced by Banco Bpm and Unicredit, nor the level of the current project finance portfolio of Banco Bpm and Unicredit in Italy. Finally, Piazza Gae Aulenti will have to cease all its activities in Russia within 9 months of the Dpcm, i.e. by January 2026.
The new timeframes
July 9th is therefore the new date to mark in red on the calendar, considering that the ruling of the Administrative Court could be crucial to understand what the fate of the offer will be. Last week, speaking to the national council of Fabi, the CEO of Unicredit Andrea Orcel he explained that: "The merger between Unicredit and Banco Bpm is a valid operation, but it clashes with visions that make it de facto uneconomic. For this reason, if the response from the TAR does not arrive in time, the offer could lapse".
The TAR ruling will arrive anyway by the 23 July, that is, within the new offer deadline after the postponement granted by Consob. This is why Unicredit has chosen to renounce the suspension on special powers, sending a signal of openness in the attempt to find a compromise.
