BNP Paribas has made an E9 billion offer for Italian bank Banca Nazionale del Lavoro following the Italian central bank's rejection of Unipol's bid.
French bank BNP Paribas has the support of the board and key shareholders, making the prospect of a takeover more likely. Unipol, which owns a 10% stake in BNL, has given its backing to the BNP bid, giving BNP Paribas a stake of close to 48%. Insurance company Generali holds 8.7% of BNL and also supports the bid.
If successful, the takeover would bring BNP Paribas closer to being the largest bank in the Eurozone, and draw a line under the recent banking scandals that have rocked Italy.
Calls for reform of the Italian sector began when the central Bank of Italy blocked a takeover by ABN Amro to buy Banca Antonventa, allowing Banca Popolare Italiano to acquire a stake instead. Suspicions that the central bank was favoring a domestic player over the Dutch bank led to an investigation and the deal was suspended, allowing ABN Amro to buy the stake and make an offer for the rest of the shares. The governor of the central bank resigned, although insisting he had done nothing wrong.
Italian insurer Unipol was also caught up in the scandal. The company made an offer for BNL which was recently rejected by the central bank because the deal would be undercapitalized, but another concern was the ongoing criminal investigation of Unipol’s two former top executives who were involved in Banca Popolare’s attempt to buy Antonventa.