Mps, here are the times and hindrances of the capital increase
What happens to the Mps capital increase. Emanuela Rossi's article
Time passes and October 17 approaches, the day on which the Montepaschi capital increase is scheduled to begin . The CEO Luigi Lovaglio, however, seems to have his work cut out in finding investors who can cover the 900 million that are missing to reach the total of 2.5 billion. The state, which holds 64% of the capital, is ready to bring 1.6 billion to Siena.
HOW THE CAPITAL INCREASE WORKS
On Wednesday Lovaglio, the banks of the guarantee consortium (Mediobanca, Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Citi, Sch, Barclays, SocGen and Stifel) and the representatives of the Treasury met in Via XX Settembre to take stock of the capital increase in following the meetings held by the same CEO with the investors. According to reports from Ansa , Lovaglio did not offer numerical indications to the banks of the pre-subscription consortium on the commitments and potential coverage of the resources it is looking for but nevertheless reiterated its willingness to start the operation on Monday 17 October. The situation, however, is not easy because the 900 million, as noted by La Stampa , are "very difficult to recover in a complex market moment like this".
Again according to the Turin daily, Lovaglio's two main discussions, that with partners Axa (policies) and Anima (managed savings), are continuing on different tracks. The French insurers would be content to keep the terms of the current partnership and could put up to around 130 million euros on the table, "underlining their interest in the Italian market, considered strategic".
On the other hand, the relationship with Anima is different, which would like to participate in the recapitalization – as announced in the summer – but the square has not yet been found. According to Il Sole 24 Ore last Friday, the asset management company "would have refined its proposal again" assuming "some hypotheses of modification to the commercial agreement in exchange for an availability of between 100 and 200 million". However, doubts would have arisen on the part of Lovaglio, who fears repercussions in a future merger perspective, but for sure – continues the Confindustria newspaper – he is not in a position to withdraw.
It should be remembered that during the week Reuters and Bloomberg provided indiscretions according to which the Treasury, to safeguard the independence of Anima, could ask Poste Italiane to increase the stake it holds, currently equal to 10.3% of the capital. In May Amundi, a transalpine asset manager, had acquired 5.16% of Anima
THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE GUARANTEE CONSORTIUM AND TRADE UNIONS
In all this, and not surprisingly, among the eight credit institutions that are part of the consortium, some apprehension would circulate about the outcome of the recapitalization. The reason is obvious: the risk of having to manage the unexercised is very high if there are no investors available to cover all the 900 million. And time is running out: according to Il Sole 24 Ore on Monday or Tuesday at the latest it will be necessary to understand how to proceed and above all how much money is "safe". Then the floor passes to Consob for the authorization and on October 17 the capital increase starts.
The trade unions are also beginning to worry about the progress of the operation. The First CISL Secretary General, Riccardo Colombani, on the sidelines of a conference in Florence on banking desertification, said it clearly: "It is not pleasant to see clear speculative attempts on the market to depress the capitalization of Mps to sabotage the capital increase" . For this, he added, "I appeal to the Mef, but I know that it is working from this point of view, to gather institutional investors, in particular the Tuscan and non-Tuscan banking foundations, in order to allow the recapitalization of 2 billion and a half of the institute ". According to Colombani, “we must leverage all institutional investors so that the industrial plan and the recapitalization plan are successful, because the oldest bank in the world obviously cannot be left to itself, it is still an asset of the country”.
THE REQUESTS FOR EXODUS
Meanwhile, those who can try to get out of the shackles of the Rocca. Therefore, the total subscriptions to the exodus and to the Solidarity Fund amounted to 4,125, of which 110 relating to the exodus and 4,015 to the Fund. Certainly higher figure than the 3,500 to be defined by 30 November and which will allow the group to save for. In a joint note, the Fabi, First Cisl, Fisac Cgil, Uilca and Unisin unions, in addition to providing the numbers after a meeting with the bank, also highlighted that Monte will decide on the acceptance of applications in the coming days. "For our part – explained the trade unions – we required speed in decisions and a careful assessment of the economic and organizational impacts, in order to identify the best solutions in favor of male and female workers".
"I hope that the conditions are being created to allow the bank to remain autonomous and, ultimately, to guarantee a solution that protects employment levels, territories and customers – commented Lando Maria Sileoni, secretary general of Fabi -. In recent days, however, important signs of attention have also been received on this second hypothesis ”. According to Sileoni, “the course of the industrial plan is proceeding, as far as we are concerned, as planned. On the contrary: requests for exits have arrived, all on a voluntary basis to be managed with the Solidarity Fund, exceeding the 3,500 to be defined by 30 November. Positive news that will allow us to hire young people ”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/mps-aumento-capitale-tempi-intralci/ on Mon, 10 Oct 2022 05:10:55 +0000.