Italy’s Mediobanca announced a €6.3 billion offer for Banca Generali on Monday, a bid that comes against a backdrop of intensifying banking consolidation in the country.
Mediobanca is already the largest stakeholder in Assicurazioni Generali, the parent company of Banca Generali, holding around 13%.
It said in a statement on Monday that it intends to finance the deal by selling this stock.
A shareholder meeting will be held on 16 June to seek investor approval for the takeover.
Under the leadership of CEO Alberto Nagel, the offer is the second attempt from Mediobanca to take control of Banca Generali, after a failed attempt in 2020.
“The combination of Banca Generali and Mediobanca…completes the transformation path embarked on by the Mediobanca Group more than a decade ago, when the gradual sale of its equity investments was accompanied by the launch of activities in Wealth Management, coupled with major strengthening in Investment Banking and Consumer Finance,” Mediobanca’s Nagel said on Monday.
In the same statement, the bank estimated that the deal would produce around €300 million in cost synergies.
It added that the acquisition would double its wealth management revenues to €2bn and that net profit would increase fourfold to €800mn.
Mediobanco’s bid adds a 11.4% premium on Banca Generali’s closing share price on Friday.
Monday’s announcement also comes as Mediobanca is itself fending off a takeover attempt from Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS).
Europe is seeing a wave of M&A activity as interest rates fall and lenders look for ways to diversify revenue streams.
In recent years, high lending costs have also allowed banks to build up cash cushions, placing them in a stronger position to pursue these deals.
Italy's Banco BPM launched an offer to buy asset manager Anima Holding late last year. Larger Italian bank UniCredit then proposed a takeover offer for Banco BPM, although the smaller lender argued that the proposition undervalued its business.
Rumours have also hinted at a merger between Banco BPM and MPS.
