How M&A Is Transforming Italy's Banking Sector: Key Deals and Players
Major M&A Deals Shaping Italy's Banking Landscape
Nov 9 (Reuters) - Credit Agricole's proposal to merge its Italian division with Banco BPM to create the country's third-largest lending group is the latest move to transform Italy's once-dormant banking sector.
Successive Italian governments have long favoured the emergence of a third major player to challenge market leaders Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit.
Here is a rundown of completed, as well as attempted but scuppered Italian banking M&A proposals since the start of 2025 as lenders have tried to avoid being left behind.
1. Credit Agricole Italia - Banco BPM
Proposed Merger and Strategic Implications
France's Credit Agricole submitted a proposal to Banco BPM's board on November 9 to create a new banking group led by the Italian bank's CEO Giuseppe Castagna.
The exchange ratio reflects a 20% valuation premium and a €1 billion ($1.1 billion) extraordinary dividend for the Italian bank's existing shareholders. Credit Agricole's stake in the combined entity would be around 45%.
If approved by Banco BPM's board and shareholders, Credit Agricole said the deal could be completed by the second half of 2027.
2. Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) - Banco BPM - Banca Generali
Failed Twin All-Share Bids
On October 29, Monte dei Paschi di Siena shareholders shot down twin all-share bids totalling about €34 billion for Banco BPM and Generali-controlled wealth manager Banca Generali.
MPS CEO Luigi Lovaglio had launched the bids in an attempt to scupper a takeover approach from Italy's largest lender, Intesa Sanpaolo, which has since received European Central Bank approval to proceed with its acquisition of MPS.
Previously, Banco BPM had invited MPS to discuss "a merger of equals", but ended talks in July after Credit Agricole, BPM's largest investor with a 29.3% stake, expressed its disapproval and then this week proposed a merger of its own.
3. Intesa Sanpaolo - MPS - Unipol - BPER
Intesa's Bid for MPS and Network Reshaping
Intesa's unsolicited and surprise €30.6 billion cash-and-share bid for MPS, first announced in June, would create the euro zone's second-largest lender, placing Italy's top bank behind Spain's Banco Santander by market value.
Intesa would sell Unipol about half of the MPS retail network it would receive through the takeover. The network would then be combined with Unipol-backed lender BPER Banca to create a bank that would operate under the brand of MPS, the world's oldest surviving lender.
Italy's competition watchdog has broadly accepted measures proposed by Intesa, although formal approval is still pending before it is expected to launch the tender phase of its bid around November 23 or 24.
4. UniCredit - Commerzbank
Cross-Border Expansion Efforts
UniCredit, which has stayed out of Italian consolidation after a failed swoop on Banco BPM, is nearing completion of its more than two-year pursuit of Commerzbank.
UniCredit approached Commerzbank as early as September 2024. It was rebuffed but has steadily increased its stake and last month received approval from the ECB to take control of Germany's second-largest public bank, in what would be Europe's biggest cross-border banking deal since the global financial crisis.
5. CF+ - Banca Sistema
Specialty Lending Consolidation
Elliott-backed speciality lender Banca CF+ completed in March a €145 million offer for Banca Sistema.
6. MPS - Mediobanca
Merchant Banking Expansion
In September last year, MPS completed a €16-billion takeover of merchant bank Mediobanca, also becoming the main investor in insurer Generali, a coveted asset in Italian finance. The deal turned MPS into a key M&A actor.
7. Banca IFIS - Illimity
Digital Banking Acquisition
Venice-based IFIS completed in August 2025 a €298-million cash-and-share offer for Illimity, a digital bank founded by former industry minister and veteran banker Corrado Passera, which was later delisted from the Milan bourse.
8. BPER - Banca Popolare di Sondrio
Defensive Consolidation Moves
Italy's fourth-largest bank in July 2025 completed a €5.4 billion cash-and-share offer for the smaller peer based in the northern city of Sondrio, calling it a defensive move dictated by the accelerating consolidation. Insurer Unipol, the main shareholder in both banks, played a pivotal role.
9. UniCredit - Banco BPM
Abandoned Takeover Attempt
Italy's second-biggest bank dropped its November 2024 €15-billion all-share offer for Banco BPM in July 2025, blaming conditions the government had set for clearance.
10. Banco BPM - Anima Holding
Asset Management Expansion
Shortly before UniCredit's failed takeover gambit, Banco BPM had bid for fund manager Anima Holding, a €1.8 billion acquisition it completed in April 2025.
11. Mediobanca - Banca Generali
Unsuccessful Wealth Management Bid
In an unsuccessful attempt to thwart MPS' takeover bid, Mediobanca announced in April 2025 a €6.3-billion all-share offer for wealth manager Banca Generali but failed to win shareholder approval.
12. Banca Generali - Intermonte
Investment Banking and Advisory Growth
Banca Generali completed a €98.2 million purchase of broker Intermonte in January 2025 to boost investment banking and complement wealth management with corporate finance advisory.
Exchange Rate Reference
($1 = 0.8574 euros)
Article Compilation Credits
(Compiled by Giulio Piovaccari, Andrea Mandalà and Jakob Van Calster; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Alexander Smith)
