Mediobanca puts in $7.2 billion takeover offer for Banca Generali
The logo of a Mediobanca Premier bank branch in Brescia, Italy, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025.
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Italian lender Mediobanca on Monday made a public 6.3 billion euro ($7.17 billion) offer to buy domestic peer Banca Generali as it seeks to boost its wealth management operations.
Mediobanca, itself the takeover target of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena amid a broader wave of attempted consolidation among Italian lenders, seeks to pay for the purchase by swapping its shares of Italian insurer Assicurazione Generali, the parent of Banca Generali with a 50.17% holding.
The proposal sets an exchange ratio of 1.7 Assicurazioni Generali shares, ex-dividend, for each Banca Generali share, based on the prices of April 25. The bid implies an offer price of 54.17 euro per share, or a roughly 11% premium from Mediobanca’s latest close.
The deal, which would generate 300 million euros in synergies, will create “a market leader, ranking second in Italy by assets (TFAs of €210bn) and distribution network (approx. 3,700 professionals),” Mediobanca said.
Typically a rarity in the languishing European banking sector, hostile takeovers have taken Italy’s lenders by storm, with UniCredit, Monte dei Paschi and now Mediobanca launching consolidation offers domestically and abroad since the second half of last year.
It comes as European banks struggle to keep pace with their transatlantic peers, with analysts pointing to mergers as a potential avenue to gain footing.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Airbus completes deal to acquire Spirit AeroSystems assets
Airbus on Monday announced it had finalized a deal to take on a batch of assets from struggling U.S. supplier Spirit AeroSystems, largely related to European production of its own commercial aircraft.
The Toulouse, France-based planemaker last year agreed to take on parts of Spirit’s operations, while the wider company is being reintegrated into former parent company Boeing in a $4.7 billion stock deal.
Airbus will take ownership of sites in Kinston, North Carolina, in St. Nazaire, France and in Casablanca, Morocco, which make parts of its A350, A321 and A220 aircraft.
It will also take over production of A220 pylons in Wichita, Kansas, A220 wings in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and wing components for A320s and A350s in Prestwick, Scotland.
Spirit’s Europe-focused operations are currently loss-making, according to Reuters.
Airbus will be compensated with $439 million by Spirit subject to adjustments, the company said, while Airbus has entered into a memorandum of agreement to provide Spirit with $200 million in non-interest bearing lines of credit.
Airbus share price.
European markets: Here are the opening calls
European markets are expected to start the new trading week in positive territory on Monday.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 115 points higher at 8,430, Germany’s DAX up 26 points at 22,266, France’s CAC 16 points higher at 7,553 and Italy’s FTSE MIB 77 points higher at 36,955, according to data from IG.
Earnings are due from Porsche, Schneider Electric and Deutsche Boerse. Data releases include the latest French and Spanish unemployment figures.
— Holly Ellyatt
