Italy wants UniCredit to reveal the full terms of its proposed takeover of smaller rival Banco BPM, under “golden power” rules that EU governments can use to screen investments in banks. strategic sectors, sources said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, two people familiar with the matter said the government had rejected UniCredit's request for a preliminary assessment, known as pre-notification, of the Banco operation.
The move suggests UniCredit will have to wait a long time before its unsolicited 10 billion euro ($10.41 billion) offer for all the shares is approved. This could help BPM strengthen its defense against the bid, a third person said.
A prolonged review could complicate the plans of UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel, who also took a stake in Commerzbank and said the timetables of the two potential buyouts would not overlap.
UniCredit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bank's bid for BPM has angered Rome because it could derail its planned merger between BPM and state-backed Monte dei Paschi di Siena to create a competitor to heavyweights UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo.
Companies tend to use pre-notification to check whether a proposed takeover falls under purchasing power legislation, allowing them to streamline and speed up procedures for operations that the government does not consider as strategic.
These rules, designed at the European Union level to repel unwanted extra-EU buyers, were expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect key companies when valuations collapsed. Some countries, including Italy, have applied this legislation to the banking sector.
Under the principle of full disclosure, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office will be able to request contracts and examine all aspects of the potential transaction between UniCredit and BPM.
The rules relating to purchasing power vary from one country to another in the European Union. In Germany, for example, the government only screens non-German buyers for very specific defense assets, such as arms and military equipment companies or those specializing in encryption technologies.
A German government source told Reuters that Berlin would not subject UniCredit's investment in Commerzbank to prior review.
In Italy, the government reserves the right to review any decision or transaction resulting in changes in the ownership, control or availability of strategic assets in the areas of energy, health, finance and many other sectors.
Rome, however, has limited room to intervene in UniCredit's acquisition of BPM, as EU treaties favor the free movement of capital within the Union.
Last week, BPM asked market watchdog Consob to adopt measures to protect the bank's stakeholders, complaining that UniCredit's offer, with a premium of just 0, 5%, could just be a way to jeopardize a BPM takeover proposal for fund manager Anima.
(1 $ = 0,9603 euros)
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