The board of directors of Banco BPM has confirmed that it has received the public acquisition offer recently submitted by Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and that it will proceed to analyze it in detail. The entity emphasizes that the economic terms differ from the merger proposal known at the beginning of June and stresses that the operation does not contemplate any premium for the shareholders of the Italian bank.
With this statement, Banco BPM has wanted to make it clear that the initiative came exclusively from MPS, noting that the proposal was launched by the Sienese bank "without having been previously agreed upon or requested" by Banco BPM and that its configuration is "structurally" different from the transaction sent by Banco BPM to MPS in the letter dated June 7, 2026.
According to the note from the board of directors, the operation proposed by MPS "is structured as an acquisition and not as a merger between the two banks, it does not recognize a premium for the shareholders of Banco BPM." Despite this, the Milanese entity has emphasized that it will study the operation carefully and that it will communicate its decisions "within the timeframe and in the manner required by legislation," complying with all applicable regulatory requirements.
Last Thursday, the board of directors of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena approved the launch of two "simultaneous and parallel" voluntary public exchange offers aimed at the acquisition of Banco BPM and Banca Generali, for a total amount close to 34 billion euros.
In the case of Banco BPM, the proposal sets an exchange ratio of 1.567 newly issued shares of MPS for each share of Banco BPM, which translates into an implicit price of 16.729 euros per share and values Banco BPM at around 25.350 billion euros.
On Friday, August 24, the date on which the terms of the takeover bid were made public, Banco BPM shares closed on the Milan Stock Exchange at 16.68 euros, a level practically aligned with the valuation included in the offer. Thus, MPS barely offers a price above the market value of the target entity.
Regarding Banca Generali, the exchange equation set by MPS amounts to 6.958 newly issued shares for each share of the asset management company, which implies a price of 74.284 euros per share and gives the entity an approximate valuation of 8.670 billion euros.
These operations, backed by the majority of the governing body of MPS, the oldest operating bank in the world, seek to configure a strategic alternative that counters the purchase offer of 30.6 billion euros that Intesa Sanpaolo, the largest banking group in Italy, proposed to MPS last June.