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MILAN (Reuters) -Italy’s Monte dei Paschi is focused on its takeover offer for Mediobanca, its chief executive said on Thursday, adding further deals would be something the state-backed bank could consider only in the future.
In a television interview with Class CNBC, Monte dei Paschi (MPS) CEO Luigi Lovaglio was asked about the implications for MPS of UniCredit ditching its buyout offer for Banco BPM.
Banco BPM acquired a stake in MPS in November, just before UniCredit’s swoop. It has long been seen as the government’s favourite merger partner for MPS.
UniCredit’s withdrawal has revived speculation about a BPM-MPS tie-up becoming a possibility.
“We are focused on the Mediobanca deal,” Lovaglio said when asked if he had spoken to Banco BPM CEO Giuseppe Castagna after UniCredit’s decision to abandon the bid.
Lovaglio reiterated his view that the combination with Mediobanca would give MPS a scale that would allow the Tuscan bank to take part in a second round of consolidation that Lovaglio sees taking place in a couple of years.
“Once we close this deal we’ll have excess capital which one can use either for a deal or to give it back to shareholders, we’ll assess it then,” he said.
Lovaglio declined to say whether MPS could sweeten the bid when asked about a possible improvement and said the current price was adequate.
“The price offered is fair if you take into account the current valuation of the two companies and the fact that after the deal there will certainly be a major re-rating,” Lovaglio said.
He expressed confidence that take-up of the bid would reach the targeted threshold of 66.7%, even though MPS set the minimum threshold at 35%, which it considers sufficient to control the rival.
Mediobanca this month renewed its opposition to the takeover offer, saying the price was “totally inadequate” and around a third lower than what the bank’s board deemed fair.
(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Mark Potter)
