CONSOB Suspends UniCredit BPM Takeover Bid for 30 Days

Rome: CONSOB has suspended UniCredit’s all-share takeover bid for Banco BPM for 30 days, the bourse regulator announced Wednesday. UniCredit, Italy’s second biggest bank, initiated a hostile bid for BPM, the third largest, several months ago.

According to Ansa News Agency, UniCredit has recently criticized the conditions imposed by the government for the approval of the takeover bid. The conditions include the gradual withdrawal of UniCredit’s operations in Russia, maintaining specific loan-to-deposit ratios, and managing investments in Anima Holding, a fund manager that BPM recently acquired.