Unicredit, obtained from the ECB the authorization to increase up to 29,9% of Alpha Bank, one of the major Greek banks, immediately brought its own overall participation at 29,5%, with a transaction carried out at a discount to market prices and hedged by derivative instruments to contain downside risks. This is the final step after the capital increases in August and May of this year, and brings the Participation of Unicredit at approximately 2,38 billion euros.
In Milan the Unicredit shares in late morning they are down more than 1%, while the shares Alpha Bank in Athens they are at +0,14%.
Now CEO Andrea Orcel, who is pursuing a expansion strategy in Europe, is awaiting final approvals from the Greek authorities to complete its indirect acquisition of Alpha Group's regulated companies, while some analysts see the possibility of the operation expanding into a full takeover bid, although not immediately. In this case, the integration with the Greek bank seems destined for success after the opposition that the CEO had to face in his attempts to acquire the German Commerzbank and Bpm bank.
Operation with minimal impact on capital
Orcel's strategy to build a stake in fourth largest Greek bank by assets was launched in October 2023 with a 9% stake, the purchase of its Romanian branch and the birth of a a joint venture in insurance and pension products, AlphaLife, 51% controlled by the Italian group. Alpha Bank It was one of the institutions saved by the Greek state through the Hfsf fund after the 2009-2010 financial crisis. In the following years, the bank completed its balance sheet cleanup, drastically reducing non-performing loans and returning to solid earnings.
During the recent conference call on financial results , the CEO said he expects approximately 1 billion euros of fully distributable net profit by 2027 from the consolidation of the stakes in Commerzbank and Alpha Bank acquired this year. Furthermore, regarding the transaction just announced, Orcel specified that "theimpact on capital in the event of a potential full conversion of the financial instruments to reach a direct participation of approximately 29,5%, it remains around -80 basis points of the CET1 ratio as previously communicated”.
Unicredit-BPM: Italy ready to modify, at least in part, the use of the golden power
Orcel had to drink a bitter pill last April: Palazzo Chigi had used the golden power to prevail over the takeover bid launched by his institute on bpm, then withdrawn in July because it was too onerous. But that position of the Italian government has now become a dossier on the table Brussels for which Italy risks a infringement procedure. To try to avoid it, theItaly is moving, according to Reuters, to change, at least in part, the use of the golden power, the special powers that allow the government to intervene in protection of strategic sectors. Brussels should send Italy a letter on November 13th put her in default – the first step in the infringement procedure – and then open negotiations. The Union would like to remove all obstacles that hinder the creation of European-scale financial groups and, consequently, considers the Italian legislation is too restrictive.
Negotiations are already underway between Italian and European officials, he says Reuters, to understand how to update the rules without distorting them. Rome's goal is to defend the principle, already upheld by some Italian courts, that the government can intervene to protect national interests. But according to the EU, the special powers overlap with those of the Commission and the ECB. hindering The free movement of capital. In the case of Unicredit, Europe maintains, the government curbed banking consolidation, which was necessary to counter the excessive power of the US and China in the sector.
