By Valentina Za
SIENA, Italy (Reuters) – Shareholders in Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) on Thursday approved a new share issue needed to finance a hostile 12 billion euro ($14 billion) buyout offer for Mediobanca.
MPS unveiled the surprise all-share bid in January, shocking Italian finance with a bold move that pitted a lender that for a decade had epitomised the country’s banking woes against a former powerhouse that long pulled the strings of Italian capitalism.
Here is a timeline of key events in the recent history of MPS, which was founded in 1472.
NOVEMBER 2007 – MPS spends 9.9 billion euros in cash to buy Antonveneta from Santander, which had bought it only months earlier for 6.6 billion.
JANUARY 2008 – MPS funds the Antonveneta deal by issuing 5.95 billion euros in equity, 2.16 billion in junior debt and a 1.56 billion euro bridge loan.
MARCH 2009 – MPS sells 1.9 billion euros in special bonds to Italy’s Treasury to shore up its finances.
JULY 2011 – MPS raises 2.15 billion euros in a rights issue ahead of European banking stress test results.
SEPTEMBER 2011 – The Bank of Italy provides 6 billion euros in emergency liquidity to MPS as the euro zone sovereign crisis escalates.
MARCH 2012 – MPS posts a 4.7 billion euro 2011 loss after goodwill writedowns on deals including Antonveneta.
JUNE 2012 – MPS asks Italy’s Treasury to underwrite up to another 2 billion euros in special bonds.
OCTOBER 2012 – Shareholders approve a 1 billion euro share issue targeting new investors.
JUNE 2014 – MPS raises 5 billion euros in a rights issue and repays the state 3.1 billion euros.
OCTOBER 2014 – MPS emerges as the worst performer in Europe-wide banking stress tests.
JUNE 2015 – MPS raises 3 billion euros in a share issue and repays the remaining 1.1 billion euro state underwritten special bond.
JULY 2016 – MPS announces a new 5 billion euro rights issue and plans to offload 28 billion euros in bad loans.
DECEMBER 2016 – MPS turns to the state for help under a precautionary recapitalisation scheme after its cash call fails.
JULY 2017 – After the ECB declares MPS solvent, the EU Commission clears an 8.2 billion euro bailout which hands the state a 68% stake at a cost of 5.4 billion euros.
OCTOBER 2019 – MPS completes Europe’s biggest bad loan securitisation deal.
JULY 2021 – UniCredit enters exclusive talks to buy “selected parts” of MPS, a day before European banking stress test results show the latter’s capital would be wiped out in a slump.
OCTOBER 2021 – Talks with UniCredit collapse.
FEBRUARY 2022 – MPS names veteran UniCredit executive Luigi Lovaglio as CEO.
OCTOBER 2022 – MPS raises 2.5 billion euro in a cash call at 2 euros a share to fund 4,000 voluntary staff exits.
NOVEMBER 2023 – Italy cuts its MPS stake to 39.2% in a share placement that meets strong demand at a price of 2.92 euros.
MARCH 2024 – Investors pay 4.15 euros a share as the Treasury cuts its MPS stake to 26.7%.
NOVEMBER 2024 – The Treasury sells 15% of MPS at 5.792 euros a share, bringing onboard construction tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, the heirs of late Italian billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio, mid-sized peer Banco BPM, fund manager Anima Holding.
JANUARY 2025 – MPS launches an unsolicited buyout offer for Mediobanca, of which Caltagirone and Del Vecchio’s heirs own 27%.
($1 = 0.8790 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Keith Weir)
