The decision on Pioneer's future will not come today. The Unicredit board meeting is underway and although the topic of how to value the 50% stake in the asset manager is not on the agenda, it could still receive information from the managing director Federico Ghizzoni. Three offers presented so far are on the table: from Banco Santander, from the English private equity CVC and from the English Advent.
And if in the last few weeks the pressure from the Spanish bank which presents itself in alliance with Warbur Pincus has grown, it is probably too early for a choice to be announced today despite the expectations on the eve of going in this direction. According to the rumors reported by the Financial Times and investigated by Corriere della Sera and Sole 24 Ore, the Spanish bank is proposing an aggregation platform on which to bring together other protagonists. Compared to the other offers, the Spanish one would not be cash but would offer a card-to-card exchange even if the advantages for Unicredit would be similar. The merger would give rise to a giant with 330 billion in assets under management, 185 of which brought by Unicredit through Pioneer.
The Italian banking group has a 50% stake in Pioneer investments. The overall valuation of 100% of the company is between 2 and 3 billion. As the wait rises for the announcements that Unicredit will give, the stock on the Stock Exchange falls by 1,3% to 6,18 euros.
