Intesa Sanpaolo Shareholders Approve Capital Increase for Monte dei Paschi Acquisition

Intesa Sanpaolo shareholders have overwhelmingly approved a capital increase to facilitate a public tender offer for Monte dei Paschi di Siena (Mps). The extraordinary assembly voted in favor of the measure with approximately 96.9% of the represented ordinary shares, totaling over 10.9 billion votes. This approval allows the board to issue up to 5.7 billion new ordinary shares to support the acquisition. The offer values the Tuscan institute at 30.6 billion euros, consisting of a cash component of 3 billion euros and a share exchange of 16 new Intesa shares for every 10 Mps titles plus one euro in cash.

CEO Carlo Messina stated that the integration with Mps will act as an accelerator for a growth strategy and aims to create one of the leading banking groups in Europe. He emphasized the intention to preserve the unique identity and historical ties of Mps to Siena and Tuscany. As part of the broader industrial project, Intesa Sanpaolo plans to make approximately 13,100 new hires by 2029 and allocate one billion euros to cohesion initiatives. Additionally, the operation involves the acquisition of a stake in Assicurazioni Generali, which Messina described as a purely financial move intended to ensure the stability and independence of the insurance company.

Participation in the assembly was approximately 63.8% to 63.9%. Support for the measure came from banking foundations, which hold 19.88% of the capital, as well as foreign institutional investors who hold 58.4%. The supervisory authority has already granted the necessary provisions for the statutory changes and authorized the inclusion of the newly issued shares in the Common Equity Tier 1 capital.