Update on Monte Dei Paschi merger situation

Italian bank Monte Dei Paschi (BMPS) has had quite the saga over the last two years. BMPS has had CEO issues, multiple potential merger partners, rogue board members, and tons of media! Everything a good banking soap opera needs. When last we left BMPS, Intesa Sanpaolo made an offer to purchase the world’s oldest bank seeking to create the “UBS” of Italy. BMPS responded by attempting to purchase Banco BPM. Intesa Sanpaolo received pushback from Italian regulators and offer to split up BMPS by selling the retail part of the bank to BPER Banca SpA. BMPS has fended off the merger proposal but their bid to purchase Banco BPM was thwarted by their largest shareholder, Credit Agricole. Then BMPS turned around and made joint bids for Banca Generali and Banco BPM. Will BMPS be able to complete these twin mergers? Will they be able to fend off Intesa Sanpaolo? This episode reviewed multiple articles in The Wall Street Journal and S&P Global (subscriptions required).