The French bank Crédit Agricole announced on Thursday that it had acquired a 9.18% stake in the capital of the Italian bank Banco BPM, the third largest in the country.
Taking into account a market capitalization of 4.1 billion euros on Thursday at the close for the Italian group, according to the data provider Factset, the operation could be valued at nearly 380 million euros.
This acquisition strengthens the solid relations maintained with Banco BPM, embodied by the long-standing strategic partnership in consumer credit within the Agos joint venture, explains Crdit Agricole in a press release, specifying that it is ready to expand the partnerships .
Banco BPM, created in 2017 from the merger between Banco Populare and Banca popolare di Milan, is the third Italian banking group in terms of assets, behind Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit.
In October 2020 rumors of a merger between the two groups appeared in the Italian press.
Then, on February 11, its title soared on the Milan Stock Exchange after speculation about a possible takeover proposal by its competitor UniCredit, which ultimately did not respond.
The bank has approximately 4 million customers, 1,400 branches and 22,000 employees.
The quality and importance of the investor, as well as the appreciation he expressed for our bank, represent a clear recognition of the value and potential of Banco BPM, reacted the Italian bank in a press release.
up 120 € premium openness thanks to our online banking comparison
The purchase of the stake was not agreed in advance, she insisted.
Credit Agricole, for its part, assured that it had not sought authorization from the supervisory authorities to cross the threshold of 10% of the capital of Banco BPM.
The French bank is already present in Italy and in April 2021 bought the regional bank Credito Valtellinese (Creval) for some 785 million euros.
Another of its ambitions, however, failed in January: in the running to take over the Italian bank Carige, Crdit Agricole suffered a setback when the main shareholder accepted the proposal of Bper Banca.