Intesa Sanpaolo shareholders approve €35.4B bid for Monte Paschi

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. The combined entity would serve over 27 million clients and manage roughly €2 trillion in customer financial assets by 2029. Intesa is projecting €2.9 billion in gross annual synergies by 2029, with 60% of those gains expected to materialize by 2028. The antitrust puzzle Intes...