Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo is among suitors for Singular Bank as U.S. fund Warburg Pincus seeks to sell its 93% stake in the Madrid-based private lender, three people close to the matter said.
The Financial Times reported earlier on Wednesday that the U.S. fund was seeking €300 million ($349 million) for the stake, adding Intesa’s offer was expected to be lower.
Bloomberg reported in February that Jefferies had been hired to handle the sale, valuing Singular at more than €200 million.
The bid Intesa is considering would be well below the price cited in the Financial Times, one source said. Intesa declined to comment. Singular was not immediately available to comment.
Singular’s management, which owns 7% and is led by former Santander CEO Javier Marin, is running the sale process and seeking a new majority investor, a second source said.
Singular, which bought UBS’s Spanish wealth management business in 2021, said last month assets under management rose 15% year-on-year in the first quarter to €18 billion.
The lender would fit Intesa’s wealth management and insurance-focused model.
Italy’s biggest bank is constrained from expanding via domestic acquisitions due to antitrust limits following a 2020 takeover, and has stayed out of a recent consolidation wave in Italy.
CEO Carlo Messina has also ruled out major cross-border deals, citing uneven banking regulation in Europe, but has left the door open to smaller wealth management acquisitions.
Presenting a new multi-year strategy in February, Intesa pledged to add 1,200 financial advisers abroad and invest €200 million to launch wealth management services in France, Germany and Spain – where it has branches but no local unit.
Intesa’s Spanish operations are currently focused on corporate and investment banking.
Source: Reuters.com