Banco BPM SpA BAMI

Why UniCredit is back in the M&A spotlight UniCredit (BIT:UCG) is sitting at the center of two separate European banking deal stories, with fresh reports of both a potential joint bid for Banco BPM and renewed merger structures involving Commerzbank. These takeover discussions come after a busy few weeks for UniCredit, which saw shareholder-approved changes to its Articles of Association on 21 September and a €750m perpetual subordinated bond issue. The share price has delivered an 18.6%...

The probe is intended to assess possible effects of the transaction on competition dynamics in banking and insurance markets.

Banco BPM's share price has delivered very large gains over the past five years. However, current valuation checks and an intrinsic value estimate that sits close to the market price suggest the stock may no longer be an obvious bargain after the latest move and the fresh takeover interest from Monte dei Paschi. Over five years, Banco BPM has returned about 8x, which puts the recent share price near a very different starting point than long term holders remember. The proposed all share offer...