Luigli Lovaglio, CEO of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), has responded to the criticisms of his strategy to acquire Banco BPM and Banca Generali, an operation aimed at preventing a potential acquisition by Intesa Sanpaolo and which, he argues, responds to a "solid growth vision" against those who see it as a risky purely defensive maneuver.
The banker has replied through a letter to the reproaches made in the well-known 'Lex column' of the economic newspaper 'Financial Times', where the initiative was described as "crazy," "fantastical," and "counterproductive."
In the face of these assessments, the top executive of the oldest bank in the world maintains that the project of the Italian entity "goes far beyond defensive maneuvers" and aims to boost the development of the group with the goal of "better serving families and businesses, and the Italian economy in general."
Lovaglio also emphasizes that the integration of Mediobanca is already advanced and incorporated into the current strategic plan, after MPS took control of this firm last September through a hostile takeover bid (OPA).
"Your 'Lex column' inaccurately describes our plan as a four-way integration. It is not. The merger with Mediobanca is already underway, and its integration framework is already incorporated into our business plan. Considering it as a new transaction considerably overestimates both what remains to be done and the overall execution risk," the executive has emphasized.
Among the goals of the operation, the CEO highlights the creation of a "leading and genuinely diversified" financial group, with a significant presence in commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, private banking, and wealth management, "comparable to the main European banking models."
In this context, the head of MPS clarifies that the integrations of Banco BPM and Banca Generali respond to different logics. The proposal regarding Banco BPM is presented as a classic merger between two commercial banks, while that of Banca Generali is configured as the purchase of a key subsidiary specialized in wealth management.
The executive also recalls that the risks are not exclusive to his proposal, and points out that the competing offer from Intesa Sanpaolo could stumble upon difficulties in terms of operational integration, regulatory requirements, competition issues, and possible forced divestitures.
"Both strategies, that of MPS and that of Intesa, involve some complexity, and a fair comparison should consider both. Our vision is simple: a banking market with real competition, built while we continue to reward our shareholders and support the communities we serve," concludes Lovaglio.
TWO "SIMULTANEOUS AND PARALLEL" OFFERS
The board of directors of MPS greenlit the launch of two "simultaneous and parallel" voluntary public exchange offers to take control of Banco BPM and Banca Generali, for a total amount close to 34 billion euros. With these proposals, the entity seeks to articulate an alternative to the purchase offer of 30.6 billion euros directed at MPS by Intesa Sanpaolo last June.
In the case of Banco BPM, the established exchange ratio contemplates 1.567 newly issued shares of MPS for each share of the entity, which translates to a price of 16.729 euros per share and values Banco BPM at approximately 25.35 billion euros.
However, Banco BPM has emphasized that the proposal does not include any premium for its shareholders and that it differs "structurally" from the operation that Banco BPM itself proposed to MPS in a letter dated June 7, 2026. "It is structured as an acquisition and not as a merger between the two banks," they pointed out from the entity.
On the same day that the terms of the offer were communicated, Friday, August 24, the shares of Banco BPM closed on the Milan Stock Exchange at 16.68 euros, a price very close to the implicit valuation in the proposal, so MPS has barely offered an improvement over the market quotation. The main shareholder of Banco BPM, Crédit Agricole, has also not expressed support for this operation or for the previously proposed merger.
As for Banca Generali, the exchange ratio establishes 6.958 newly issued shares of MPS for each existing share, which implies a price of 74.284 euros per share and values the entity at around 8.67 billion euros.
The board of directors of Banca Generali, controlled by the Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali, has indicated on its part that it will analyze the proposal in detail and that they have already started a "thorough analysis" of it.