With the difficulties that Unicredit He is meeting with the Banco Bpm Oops, the Andrea Orcel bank is wing around. And he does it by looking at Greece, with the idea of buying 20% Alpha Bank.
The share of Unicredit
While the OPS on Banco Bpm struggles to take off and the Operation on Commerzbank remains in Standby, Unicredit focuses elsewhere. The bank led by Andrea Orcel turns attention to Greece, where he is preparing to strengthen his presence in Alpha Bank.
Unicredit has signed new agreements with some international investment banks, acquiring a further 9.7% of Alpha Services and Holdings, the holding that controls Alpha Bank. The purchase was made at a discounted price compared to the market listing, but the actual transfer of shares remains subject to approval by the competent regulatory authorities.
The precedents with Alpha Bank
With this operation, Unicredit’s overall participation in Alpha Bank will reach about the 20%, By allowing the Italian group to consolidate the investment with the net assets and benefit in a more direct way of the existing strategic partnership. Unicredit also announced the intention to present all the necessary documentation to exceed the 10% threshold and go up up to 29.9% of the capital of the Hellenic bank.
There collaboration Between Unicredit and Alpha Bank it began in 2023 with a strategic understanding that involved the merger of activities in Romania and the birth of a joint venture in insurance and pension products. In that context, Unicredit had acquired a majority share of 51% in Alphalife, the company dedicated to this sector.
A 180 million euro deal
The operation should generate an incremental net profit for Unicredit by approximately 180 million euros per year, which will be redistributed to shareholders in line with the group’s remuneration policy. The completion is expected by the end of 2025 The profitability of the operation is also intended to improve further, thanks to the synergies and joint initiatives provided for in the partnership with Alpha Bank.
The Unicredit CEO Andrea Orcel He said:
This step strengthens our partnership with Alpha, which has already overcome expectations. We have full confidence in the leadership of Alpha, in their strategy and in the growth prospects of Greece. The constant dialogue with the Government and the Greek institutions was fundamental for the success of the collaboration and for this further investment.
Unicredit’s management reiterated that the priority remains the execution of the strategic plan Unicredit Unlockedwith the aim of ensuring profitable, sustainable and oriented growth for maximum enhancement for shareholders.
Problems with bpm
The subscription with Alpha Bank were probably derived from the Bank’s difficulties to conclude the OPS of Banco BPM.
After a series of negotiations with Unicredit, the government confirmed the rigid conditions already set last April last week to authorize the operation. He has exercised the special powers provided for by the Golden Power legislation, which allows the Presidency of the Council, in extraordinary situations, to intervene on strategic market operations, up to conditioning or blocking them completely.
Among the imposed conditions, Unicredit must leave Russia by January, where it is still among the few Operational Western banks after the invasion of Ukraine. In addition, he had to commit himself not to reduce the total number of his bank branches. For a period of five years, the bank will have to keep both the employment/deposits and the level of funding for public or public utility, provided by the two banks involved and the Sgr, a company recently acquired by Banco BPM. Irreicedable offers for Unicredit, which could now stop Oops.
