The French insurer Axa announced on Tuesday that it had sold the approximately 8% of the capital it holds in the Italian bank in difficulty Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), only four months after having injected 200 million euros into it.
The announcement of the disengagement of Axa caused the fall of the MPS title on the Milan Stock Exchange, where it tumbled around 9:30 am (8:30 am GMT) from 10.51% to 2.456 euros, in a market down 0.66%.
In a press release, the French group reported the success of the sale of 100 million shares from institutional investors at a price of 2.33 euros per share, i.e. a total amount of 233 million euros for approximately 7.94% of the capital of MPS.
AXA will retain (directly or indirectly) 0.0007% of the bank’s capital, the group said in a press release following the sale announced Monday evening.
AXA keeps a very small share of the capital
The sale of MPS securities does not in any way affect Axa’s partnership with the bank or Axa’s commitment to the Italian market, the group assured on Monday.
This announcement comes less than four months after the last capital increase of the Italian bank, on November 3, for 2.5 billion euros. A total of around 200 million was then contributed by Axa.
On the verge of resounding bankruptcy, MPS had already been bailed out in 2017, to the tune of 5.4 billion euros, by the Italian state, which had become its main shareholder.
On the Paris Stock Exchange, the Axa title rose around 09:40 (08:40 GMT) by 0.12% to 29.41 euros, in a market down 0.42%.