Intesa Is Poised for Role in Italy Bid for Borsa Italiana
Intesa Is Poised for Role in Bid for Borsa Italiana
(Bloomberg) -- Intesa Sanpaolo SpA is likely to play a part in the possible purchase of Borsa Italiana SpA being considered by Italian state-owned lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA and Euronext, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The government and Euronext have been weighing a joint bid for the stock exchange operator, owned by London Stock Exchange Group Plc, and Intesa Sanpaolo is likely to play a part, the people said, asking to not be identified because the information is private. No final decision has been made and the plan may not be completed, they said.
LSE said last month that it has started talks to divest all or part of Borsa Italiana to satisfy European antitrust regulators examining its blockbuster deal for Refinitiv. In one scenario under discussion, Euronext would end up as the owner of the Italian bourse while Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Intesa would get stakes in Euronext, according to the people.
The Italian government may aim for a CDP stake in Euronext similar to the 8% held by France’s state-controlled Caisse des Depots et Consignations, while Intesa may wind up with a holding on par with the roughly 2% owned by BNP Paribas SA, they said.
Representatives for Euronext, CDP and Intesa declined to comment.
LSE has begun a sale process for Borsa Italiana’s bond-trading platform, MTS SpA, and asked for first-round bids by Aug. 21, people have said. Deutsche Boerse AG is among parties considering making an offer for the business, which could also attract bids from exchange operators including Nasdaq Inc., Bloomberg reported earlier this month.
Italy’s cabinet is set to meet this week to review its strategy on Borsa Italiana ahead of the deadline for the offers, La Stampa reported on Tuesday.
Italy extended market regulator Consob’s veto powers over stake sales, either directly or indirectly, in the country’s stock exchange operator, according to a decree approved last week.
A Borsa Italiana deal would mark another major intervention by the Italian government into listed companies in the last few weeks. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s cabinet halted the sale of a minority stake in Telecom Italia SpA’s network and forced the Benetton family to exit Autostrade per l’Italia.
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