The Tar of Lazio Boccia the appeal presented by Banco BPM against the suspension of theOPS of Unicreditdecided by Consob in view of the performance of the negotiations on the Golden Power between the bank led by Andrea Orcel and the government. A decision that moves the offer hand forward, such as Consob stability, although the number one of the Institute of Piazza Gae Aulenti gave a low chance (“about 20%, or not”) to the continuation of the same.
The Tar decision and its implications
The second quater section of the Lazio TAR rejected the appeal presented by Banco BPM, who asked not to suspend the public exchange offer launched by Unicredit, Against the decision taken by Consob last May 21, which frozen the offer for 30 days.
A decision urgently made by the market surveillance body, in consideration of the “Situation of uncertainty” came to create following the ongoing talks between the Unicredit and the government on the Golden Power, which does not allow the “recipients” of the offer “to reach a well -founded judgment” on the OPS. A power that the president of Consob Paolo Savona had defended with strength, in the face of the numerous criticisms that have come in the political field, threatening “if I am not welcome I go away”.
Banco Bpm had talked instead of “an abnormal decision that blocks us as a bank, prevents us from saying ours on the market and does not take into account the interest of our shareholders”
As a result of the Tar sentence, The offer will therefore remain frozen until 23 Juneas decided by the Authority.
Banco Bpm’s reply
“Let’s take note of the TAR decisioneven if for us the context does not change. We are now accustomed for 7 months to not have clarity on the times and real intentions of the offerer on this operation “, replicate the leaders of Banco Bpm, the president Massimo Tononi and the CEO Giuseppe Castagnacommenting on the TAR decision.
“It is undeniable that it is An OPS that has an extraordinary duration (about 8 months), against an average of the latest 5 months operations. – they say – Furthermore, due to the Rule Passivity, it significantly limits our necessary strategic flexibility in a decisive moment for the reorganization of the credit sector “.
“As the market has always shown, the OPS launched on Banco Bpm continues not to be convenient for shareholders And it has never been from the first day ”, reiterate the two managers, remembering that the OPS She was born without award and she remainedwith a discount that is currently between 7 and 8%, while in the two previous comparable extraordinary operations, the prize was 45%”
“Finally, for respect for our stakeholders as well as of the market, it continues to read declarations of the offerer who for the umpteenth time does not clarify his real intentions on the choice to proceed or not with the public exchange offer”, say Castagna and Tononi, clearly referring to the declarations made yesterday by the number one of Unicredit Andrea Orcel, who gave OPS to a “20%, or even less”
Limited effects on the stock exchange
The Tar decision and the reactions of the Banco Bpm top management do not seem to have disturbed the courses of the stocks on the stock exchange. Banco BPM It continues down 0.67%, while Unicredit yields 0.77%. A performance more or less in line with the banking sector, which reflects on the index FTSE ITALIA BANKS A reduction of 0.57%.
