MILAN: UniCredit on Monday reminded Banco BPM shareholders it could withdraw its buyout offer for their bank if BPM investors back a more costly bid for fund manager Anima Holding.
BPM last week proposed to pay more for Anima Holding , which it needs to buy to reach profit and payout targets as it tries to fend off UniCredit’s takeover.
Given the takeover, the proposal needs approval from Banco BPM shareholders.
Italy’s second-biggest bank said it had not taken any decision, but wanted to make sure Banco BPM shareholders had “full awareness of the risks and uncertainties underlying the proposals that have been made to them and of the possible consequences of their decisions”.
Banco BPM was not immediately available to comment.
Banco BPM’s shareholders vote on February 28 on BPM’s proposal to align the bid’s price to the market price.
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BPM will also ask shareholders to allow it to pursue the bid before knowing if the European Central Bank will allow Banco BPM to make use of favourable capital rules.
In launching its takeover offer for Banco BPM in November, shortly after BPM bid for Anima, UniCredit had said it reserved the right to drop its proposal if the terms of the Anima bid changed.
As Anima’s share price is above Banco BPM’s bid, the latter is almost certain to fail without the increase proposed by BPM.
If Banco BPM secures shareholder approval to increase the price, two leading Anima investors, Poste Italiane and private equity fund FSI, have already said they would sell their stakes to BPM.
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