Intesa Sanpaolo Gets European Central Bank Approval to Take Over Monte Dei Paschi
By Michael Hennessey
Intesa Sanpaolo said it received authorization from the European Central Bank to take control of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, removing a key regulatory obstacle for the Italian bank's 31.4 billion euros ($34.93 billion) takeover offer.
The green light from the ECB grants approval for Intesa to hold a direct controlling shareholding in Monte dei Paschi, which is widely considered to be the world's oldest bank still in operation.
Intesa is still awaiting approval from the Italian markets regulator, Consob, as well as the country's antitrust body.
In an attempt to avoid antitrust issues, Intesa has previously agreed to sell around half of Monte dei Paschi's branches to insurer Unipol, which will then merge them with BPER Banca. Unipol is already the single largest shareholder in BPER Banca.
The ECB also approved Intesa to take indirect control of Mediobanca, which was bought last year by Monte dei Paschi.
Monte dei Paschi has repeatedly questioned Intesa's takeover bid, which prompted Chief Executive Officer Luigi Lovaglio to launch in August its own takeover proposals for peers Banco BPM and Banca Generali, valued together at nearly $40 billion, in a bid to fend off its suitor.
Monte dei Paschi shareholders will vote on those proposed takeovers on Thursday, after Intesa warned it could pull out if its target backs the alternative deals.
Monte dei Paschi didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Write to Michael Hennessey at michael.hennessey@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 28, 2026 03:40 ET (07:40 GMT)
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