Italian asset manager Banca Mediolanum said on Monday has completed the sale of its entire 3.5% stake in merchant bank Mediobancafor about 548.4 million euros ($646.2 million).
Banca Mediolanum has sold its stake of 29.1 million shares via an accelerated bookbuilding process at a price of 18.85 euros per share, the bank said in a statement.
Morgan Stanley was the sole bookrunner for the placement, the statement added.
In January Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) announced a surprise all-share offer to buy Mediobanca. After gaining regulatory approval from the European Central Bank last week, MPS is ready to launch its bid for Mediobanca next month.
In an attempt to become too big for MPS to swallow, Mediobanca proposed in April to buy private bank Banca Generali, but was forced to delay a shareholder vote to September 25 to avoid a possible defeat after investors opposing the deal increased their holdings in the merchant bank.
Mediobanca previously said it sees net profit growing 45% over the three financial years to 2028, reaching 1.9 billion euros, and expects revenue to rise at an annual average rate of 6% to over 4.4 billion euros.
Source: Reuters.com