Europe · Business news · Corporate · 08 Jun 2026
EU Financials
Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest bank, made an unsolicited offer of new Intesa shares plus cash for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, worth €30.6 billion in total and a 12.5% premium to MPS's previous close. To ease competition concerns, Intesa agreed with insurer Unipol to sell a banking entity carrying the MPS brand and about 635 MPS branches. The combined group would be the euro zone's second-biggest lender after Santander, with about 3,000 branches and a market value of roughly €126 billion. Banco BPM had invited MPS to talks on a merger of equals days earlier.
The bid reshapes Italian banking consolidation: MPS, Banco BPM and Unipol are directly involved, while UniCredit and BPER would face a much larger domestic rival. Because MPS controls Mediobanca, which holds a stake in Generali, the outcome also affects influence over Italy's biggest insurer. The offer needs competition, government 'golden power' and supervisory approvals, and because it is paid mostly in Intesa shares, its value moves with Intesa's stock price.
Reported by ANSA — “Intesa makes €31-bn bid for MPS amid merger ferment” ↗ on 08 Jun 2026.
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