The Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Italian government announced this Tuesday the sale of 12.5% of the share capital of the bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), some 670 million euros, with which it seeks to reduce to 26 .5% the percentage of state control of the entity after the first placement last November.
According to the organization, the sale will be carried out through a consortium of banks composed of BofA Securities, Citigroup Global Markets Europe Ag, Jeffries and Mediobanca with Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners to promote the distribution of these shares among qualified investors in Italy and foreign institutional investors. According to the statement, “it undertakes not to sell any more of the bank’s shares in the market for a period of 90 days” and “the final terms of the operation will be communicated upon completion of the placement.”
After allocating 25% of MPS shares last November, the Treasury now wants to place another 12.5%, and is preparing to reduce the percentage of state control of the Siena bank to 26.5%. With current market prices, which are estimated at 4,256 euros per share, the total value of the operation is around 670 million euros.
A historical entity
The Monte dei Paschi di Siena earned 2,051.8 million euros in 2023, compared to 178.4 million losses the previous year, thus granting a dividend after three years. Considered the oldest bank in the world, the entity originated in the year 1472, and has been controlled by the Italian State since its precautionary recapitalization to avoid bankruptcy in 2017.
Last year, the European Central Bank (ECB) gave the green light to a request for a capital increase, for a total amount of 2,500 million included in its strategic plan for the period 2022-2026 with the aim of relaunching the entity after the economic problems suffered.
