Mediobanca may speed up Banca Generali bid vote to fend off MPS

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's Mediobanca said on Thursday it could bring forward a shareholder vote on its bid for Banca Generali, which it proposed in April to gain size and ward off a hostile takeover offer from Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS).

Mediobanca, which last month unveiled a plan to return 4.9 billion euros ($5.6 billion) to shareholders over the next three years, said it was ready to launch a new 400 million euro tranche of its share buyback programme. It also reported on Thursday a 4% rise in full-year profit and record high revenue, in line with expectations. 

In January, MPS announced a surprise all-share offer for larger rival Mediobanca, adding to sweeping consolidation in Italy's banking sector. Mediobanca sought to protect itself from a takeover in April by proposing to acquire private bank Banca Generali from top Italian insurer Generali, with the aim of becoming too large a target.

Mediobanca said on Thursday it expected the regulatory process for its acquisition of Banca Generali to be completed by August 18 and aimed to hold a shareholders vote on the offer on August 21, ahead of the September 8 deadline for MPS' offer. 

"It is important to submit the deal to our shareholders before [the end of the MPS' offer] because that allows them to assess all the available options," CEO Alberto Nagel told a media call.

Last month, Mediobanca was forced to delay the shareholder vote on its Banca Generali bid to September 25 to avoid a possible defeat after some investors opposing the deal increased their holdings and others asked for more details on a distribution agreement with Generali integral to the deal.

Mediobanca said it had sent Generali a proposal to begin talks on the distribution agreement and said it would decide by August 6 on whether to bring the Banca Generali bid vote forward depending on how discussions progress. Generali's board meets on August 6.

"We do not expect to sign any agreement next week, but rather to find out whether our proposal has been given the green light" by Generali, Nagel said.

Mediobanca reported a net profit of 1.3 billion euros, up 4%, for its 2025 fiscal year, which runs from July to June, and revenue at a new record high of 3.7 billion euros, up 3%. Both figures were broadly in line with an analysts' consensus provided by the bank.  

($1 = 0.8733 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; editing by Giulia Segreti, Neil Fullick and Susan Fenton)