Intesa Sanpaolo just cleared its biggest hurdle on the road to swallowing Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. On September 10, shareholders voted overwhelmingly to authorize the issuance of up to 5.7 billion new ordinary shares, providing the Italian banking giant with the ammunition it needs to fund its €35.4 billion takeover of MPS.
The vote wasn’t even close. A full 97% of ballots cast backed the capital increase, with 63.9% of total share capital represented at the meeting.
From unsolicited bid to shareholder mandate
Intesa first made its move on June 8 with an unsolicited offer valued at roughly €30.6 billion. The bid has since been sweetened to approximately €35.4 billion, reflecting a 12.5% premium over MPS’s share price before the initial approach.
The terms are straightforward: 1.6 new Intesa shares plus €1 in cash for every MPS share tendered. That works out to an implied value of €10.09 per MPS share.
