MILANO (Reuters) – Banco BPM on Tuesday rebuffed concerns raised by suitor UniCredit about its capital reserves, and said it trusted it would be able to apply favourable capital rules to its proposed purchase of fund manager Anima Holding.
BPM last week proposed to pay more for Anima, which it needs to buy to reach higher profit and payout targets it has set as it tries to fend off a takeover by UniCredit.
The proposal needs approval from BPM shareholders, who will also vote to give the board power to clinch the Anima deal before the European Central Bank rules on the favourable capital treatment.
BPM reiterated a forecast for a core capital ratio above 13% even without the more favourable capital rules, countering UniCredit’s calculations about the ratio falling below that threshold.
On Monday UniCredit questioned Banco BPM’s ability, in terms of financial strength, to shoulder the impact of a sweetened Anima bid without the capital relief.
Based on the conditions of UniCredit’s bid for BPM, a higher price tag for Anima gives UniCredit the right to walk away.
BPM said UniCredit was raising concerns about its target’s capital levels, without saying what it intended to do if BPM’s shareholders backed a higher Anima bid’s price.
BPM in turn expressed concerns over what it described as a lack of clarity from UniCredit over its recent strategic moves, which include a 28% stake in Germany’s Commerzbank and a 4.2% stake in Italian insurer Generali, described by UniCredit as a financial investment.
Banc BPM also said UniCredit did not provide sufficient clarity about its remaining presence in Russia.
“This information is crucial in the context of a voluntary public exchange offer on Banco BPM as the bank’s shareholders should be able to evaluate the risk they would be exposed to by accepting the bid,” it said.
(Reporting by Andrea Mandalà; Editing by Valentina Za)
