(Bloomberg) — The Italian government will allow UniCredit SpA’s takeover bid for Banco BPM SpA to move forward, provided some conditions are fulfilled.
Following an in-depth review, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet decided “in defense of strategic interests and national security” to place some conditions on the €13 billion ($14.8 billion) acquisition before allowing it to go ahead, the government said late Friday in a statement. No details regarding the conditions were provided.
UniCredit, run by Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel, launched the unsolicited takeover bid late last year, throwing Meloni’s plans for a third major banking conglomerate in the country centered on Banco BPM into disarray. Officials in Rome, however, have signaled they had little room to block the the deal despite it facing stiff political opposition, Bloomberg has reported.
Italy concluded its special process that allows authorities to block or impose conditions on transactions involving strategic assets under the so-called “Golden Power” rules, after a review began in January.
Italy may request constraints on UniCredit’s Russia business, to keep BPM’s loan-to-deposit ratio stable, as well as maintaining its project financing levels, Bloomberg reported earlier this week.
Meloni’s government used its golden power prerogative last year, when it imposed restrictions on tiremaker Pirelli & C. SpA’s largest investor, China’s Sinochem International Corp., to limit access to information from sensors in Pirelli tires. By contrast, Rome has recently cleared with no conditions Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA’s takeover bid on Mediobanca SpA and Banco BPM SpA’s acquisition of Anima Holding SpA.
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