Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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Delfin, owned by the Del Vecchio family, raises its stake in Monte dei Paschi to 9.8%, indicating potential further consolidation in Italy's banking sector.
MILANO (Reuters) -The holding company of late Italian billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio has raised its stake in bailed-out lender Monte dei Paschi, a filing showed, strengthening its hand in expected further consolidation among the country's banks.
The move by Delfin, the holding company of the late eyewear magnate and Ray-Ban owner Del Vecchio, is the latest twist in a banking saga ignited by the Italian Treasury's placement of a 15% Monte dei Paschi (MPS) stake in November.
That sale handed Delfin a 3.5% stake. Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, another Italian billionaire, also took 3.5%, while Banco BPM bought 5%.
The regulatory filing showed Delfin on Dec. 27, the day that MPS named five new directors, increased its holding to 9.78%.
The investment makes Delfin the biggest private investor in MPS after the Treasury, which holds 11.7% of the bank it rescued in 2017 - down from the initial 68%.
Italy's government had said the re-privatisation of MPS, which restructured under CEO Luigi Lovaglio in recent years, should contribute to building a third large bank next to heavyweights Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit.
The 15% placement raised the prospect of an eventual tie-up between MPS and Banco BPM and prompted UniCredit to launch a takeover bid for BPM, with CEO Andrea Orcel saying his bank could not afford to be sidelined as consolidation sped up.
UniCredit's bid for BPM threw a spanner in the works of BPM's own bid for fund manager Anima Holding.
Like Delfin, Caltagirone is positioned to play a role in any future bank M&A. The construction tycoon has raised his initial MPS stake to 4.97% and bought 5% of Anima. He has now two representatives on the MPS board, including son Alessandro Caltagirone.
Delfin and Caltagirone are also the leading investors in Milanese bank Mediobanca with stakes of 19.8% and 7.8%, respectively. They are also major investors in insurer Generali with 9.9% and 6.9%.
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin and Alessia Pé; Writing by Valentina Za; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Deepa Babington)
The article discusses Delfin's increased stake in Monte dei Paschi and its implications for bank consolidation in Italy.
Leonardo Del Vecchio was an Italian billionaire and the owner of Delfin, a holding company that has increased its stake in Monte dei Paschi.
The stake increase positions Delfin as the largest private investor in Monte dei Paschi, potentially influencing future bank mergers and acquisitions.
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