The Italian banking authority has given its approval for Banca Popolare Italiana, formerly Popolare di Lodi, to issue an official takeover bid for Banca Antonveneta, which has already received an offer from Dutch bank ABN Amro NV.
Banca Popolare’s attempts to see off the interest from the Dutch banking organization had hit regulatory snags including investigations into its recent conduct when buying shares in Antonveneta. However, Bank of Italy, which is not a supporter of foreign buyouts, has now approved Banca Popolare to go ahead with a counter bid to ABN’s long standing offer.
In fact, the Italian suitor will issue two offers at the same time, an all-cash offer worth E24.47 an Antonveneta share and an almost all shares bid worth E27.50 a share. ABN Amro’s all cash offer, which is due to run out on July 22, remains better that Banca Popolare’s all cash bid.
Despite this, as its Italian rival already possesses a significant shareholding in Antonveneta, ABN is believed to be close to admitting defeat. Although, if ABN does pull out of the contest, according to MarketWatch, it is likely to make around a E600 million profit on the Antonventa shares it bought during the battle.