Intesa Sanpaolo has secured approval from Italy's market regulator, Consob, to proceed with its acquisition of smaller rival Monte dei Paschi, a bid valued at 35.04 billion euros (equivalent to 39.05 billion US dollars) that will officially launch later this month.
Consob approved the offer document for Intesa Sanpaolo (Intesa Sanpaolo)'s bid for Monte dei Paschi (Monte dei Paschi) on Sunday. Monte dei Paschi is widely regarded as the oldest bank still in operation anywhere in the world.
Unless extended, the acceptance period for Intesa Sanpaolo's offer will begin on November 24 and run through January 22 of the following year. On the fifth trading day after the acceptance period closes, which is January 29, Intesa Sanpaolo will pay Monte dei Paschi shareholders consideration of 1.25 euros in cash plus 1.664 Intesa Sanpaolo shares for each Monte dei Paschi share held.
Based on last Friday's closing price, the offer values Monte dei Paschi at approximately 35.04 billion euros. Intesa Sanpaolo's current market capitalization stands at roughly 107.78 billion euros.
Monte dei Paschi had previously sought to fend off Intesa Sanpaolo's takeover approach. However, the bank's chief executive, Luigi Lovaglio, earlier proposed two acquisition plans in an attempt to block the bid, and shareholders voted overwhelmingly last month to reject both, causing Monte dei Paschi's defense strategy to collapse.
Despite having previously voiced opposition to the takeover, Monte dei Paschi has not yet formally accepted or rejected Intesa Sanpaolo's offer. The bank said on Friday that it is still evaluating the bid and plans to complete its assessment by the end of this month, keeping pace with Intesa Sanpaolo's timeline.
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