How Intesa Sanpaolo will pamper Bergamo after Ubi
All the moves (including football) of Intesa Sanpaolo in Bergamo after acquiring Ubi Banca. Facts, numbers, shareholdings and more
A close relationship that has lasted for years and on which, apparently, Intesa Sanpaolo does not intend to back down. We are talking about Ubi Banca and Bergamo, the rich Lombard city which is an integral part of the history of the credit institution that is merging with Ca 'de Sass following the success of the public exchange offer – and later also of purchase – launched last February 17 by the group headed by the managing director Carlo Messina.
THE HISTORY OF UBI
To understand Ubi Banca's relationship with the city of Bergamo and the surrounding territories, however, it is necessary to take a long step back, over 150 years ago. Ubi Banca was officially born on 1 April 2007 from the merger between BPU Banca and Banca Lombarda e Piemontese. Both groups are actually the result of a history of aggregations between credit institutions that has been going on since the second half of the nineteenth century. In particular, BPU Banca was born from the merger between Banca Popolare Bergamo-Credito Varesino (BPB-CV) and Banca Popolare Commercio e Industria (BPCI). At the basis of the modern Ubi there is therefore a first element of the credit sector which is the Banca Popolare di Bergamo, founded in 1869 with the name of Banca Mutua Popolare of the City and Province of Bergamo.
EQUITY INVESTMENTS IN COMPANIES IN THE BERGAMASCO TERRITORY
Corriere della Sera took care of looking at Ubi, and above all to find the local dowry brought by the Lombard bank, which made a list of the holdings less directly linked to credit but "impact" on the Bergamo economy.
Starting with Sacbo, the company that manages the Orio al Serio airport and that the Popolare di Bergamo helped to found 50 years ago, of which Ubi holds 17.9% of the capital (in 2019 it obtained 1.2 million in dividends).
It then continues with Autostrade Lombarde, a company that owns 78.97% of Brebemi, of which Ubi holds approximately 2.83 million shares in its portfolio. Remaining in the infrastructures discourse, with the acquisition of the institute now led by Gaetano Miccichè Intesa Sanpaolo is able to double its presence in Autostrade Bergamasche Spa, which promotes the connection between Bergamo and Treviglio. To its 7.31% Ca 'de Sass will add the same percentage held by Ubi and will therefore rise to 14.62%. Sum of capital also on Autostrada Pedemontana Lombarda, where at 17.37% it will consolidate 3.34% of the annexed institution, consolidating the second position among the shareholders behind Milano Serravalle-Milano Tangenziale Spa.
Leaving the infrastructure area, we arrive in Bergamo Fiera Nuova, the company that owns the exhibition center, and of which Ubi holds 8.5% of the capital. There is also expectation to understand what will happen to three important properties owned by Ubi Banca, starting with the large headquarters in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, which is valued at 137 million in the financial statements.
A separate chapter is then represented by the artistic heritage towards which Intesa Sanpaolo has nourished great attention for years, so much so that it has invested not a few resources. According to Corriere della Sera "despite the proximity to Milan, it would be suggestive to think of an extension of Gallerie d'Italia, the network of museums and cultural events" started by the Messina bank with the first offices in Milan, Naples and Vicenza .
AGREEMENT OF THE THOUSAND AND SHAREHOLDERS OF BERGAMASCHI
Obviously the people from Bergamo have made their presence felt also at the corporate level. One of the most important shareholders' agreements that have animated the life of the institute in recent years, together with the recent reference Shareholders' Committee (Car) and the Ubi Shareholders' Syndicate, was the Patto dei Mille, chaired by Emilio Zanetti, former president of Banca Popolare di Bergamo and the Management Board of Ubi Banca. At the time of its establishment, at the beginning of 2016, it had 65 shareholders representing 2.27% of Ubi's capital. In a note it was specified that “the Pact of the Thousand sees represented the main exponents of the business and professional community of Bergamo, exponents of other Lombard provinces as well as Confindustria Bergamo, Varese and Pavia. The shareholders of the Patto dei Mille intend to consolidate their bond with Ubi Banca in order to continue to promote the inspiring principles of the activity of Banca Popolare di Bergamo and of all those banks united in Ubi that have traditionally been able to enhance their territories, also supporting their growth economic and social ". And again: "The Ubi shareholders gathered in the Patto dei Mille intend to reaffirm the autonomy and specific identity of Ubi Banca, which aims to provide efficient and effective services to the economic community to promote growth, competitiveness and social cohesion of all the territories served. This is also true in the event of structural changes that might affect the Bank and take place in the future ".
Hence, prominent entrepreneurs and their families enter the world of credit: there are the Bombassei, who with Brembo represent an Italian excellence in the automotive sector; the Andreolettis, active in the plastics sector and with Gianfranco patron for over 20 years of Albinoleffe, a team of the Municipalities of Albino and Leffe, in the province of Bergamo; i Bosatelli, owners of Gewiss Spa which operates in the electrotechnical sector. It should be noted that at the birth of the Car, in September of last year, some shareholders of the Patto dei Mille came out to converge there: just to name a few, the Andreoletti and Bosatelli families and Nuova Fourb Spa, owned by the Bombassei. In this way, the Pact had dropped to 1.6% in Ubi. As for the Intesa offer, the Pact of the Thousand in February responded spades but then in July left the shareholders free to join the operation.
MEANWHILE INTESA SANPAOLO IS MOVING
Ca 'de Sass, which immediately made it known that it would not neglect relations with the territory, has already given a signal in this sense: only a few days ago is the announcement that Intesa Sanpaolo will be a sponsor and "banking partner" of Atalanta, and also the "main sponsor" of all the teams in the youth sector of the Orobica team. In addition, a loan agreement, worth 40 million, was signed between the group led by Carlo Messina and the Istituto per il Credito Sportivo to redevelop the Gewiss Stadium. Moreover, the historic tribune of the Bergamo stadium will be called "Renaissance" as the program launched by the banking group together with the city council to deal with the Covid-19 emergency.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/come-intesa-sanpaolo-coccolera-bergamo-dopo-ubi/ on Sun, 16 Aug 2020 14:30:20 +0000.