Italy's MPS bank faces investigation over Mediobanca takeover

By Valentina Za and Alvise Armellini

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and its top two shareholders are facing an investigation in Milan in relation to the Tuscan bank's takeover of Mediobanca, two judicial sources told Reuters on Thursday.

MPS, which has been led by Luigi Lovaglio since early 2022, confirmed it had been informed of allegations against its 70-year-old chief executive and of a search warrant and was cooperating with authorities.

"The bank is confident it can provide all the necessary information to clarify the correctness of its actions and expresses its full trust in the competent authorities, with whom it confirms its full cooperation," MPS said in a statement. 

The 16 billion euro ($19 billion) bid, which in September handed MPS control of Milanese investment bank Mediobanca, was championed by the government and is the biggest deal so far in a merger wave reshaping Italy's financial landscape.

Milan prosecutors allege Italy's market watchdog Consob, the European Central Bank and Italian insurance supervisor IVASS were not informed of concerted action involving MPS and its leading investors on the Mediobanca bid, the sources said.

They are investigating possible market rigging and obstruction of regulators, the two sources said, confirming a report in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Shares in MPS, which was bailed out by the state in 2017, closed down 4.6%.

The ECB declined to comment. Consob Chair Paolo Savona said the regulator had to look into the matter before commenting. 

The biggest shareholders in MPS are Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, a construction magnate, and Delfin, the holding company of Italy's Del Vecchio family, which is led by EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri, the right-hand man of late billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio.

Caltagirone and Delfin were also the top investors in Mediobanca and played a key role in supporting the MPS bid.

They became shareholders in MPS in November 2024 when Italy's Treasury sold 15% of the bank to a small group of domestic investors. They later increased their holdings, easing the takeover project.

UNDER INVESTIGATION SINCE JUNE

Lovaglio, Caltagirone and Milleri have all been under investigation since June, the sources told Reuters, but their names have only emerged after prosecutors began searches in connection with their investigation.

Delfin and Caltagirone's group both said in separate statements they had each acted in compliance with relevant laws and market regulations. Delfin expressed confidence the investigation would prove the allegations were groundless.

Caltagirone said it would continue to collaborate with magistrates and that it had behaved transparently with all supervisory authorities.  

The offices of MPS have been searched this week, said the sources, who asked not to be named.

The Milan prosecutors in charge of the case are Roberto Pellicano, Luca Gaglio and Giovanni Polizzi.

MPS announced its bid for Mediobanca in January after Italy's Treasury completed its re-privatisation of the bailed-out bank, cutting its initial 68% stake to a near 12% holding which has now more than halved with the Mediobanca deal.

($1 = 0.8631 euros) 

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, Gianluca Semeraro and Angelo Amante, editing by Alvise Armellini, Valentina Za, Gavin Jones, Deepa Babington, Rod Nickel)