Intesa Sanpaolo → Monte dei Paschi
Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's largest bank, launches a surprise €30.6bn bid for Monte dei Paschi, pre-empting a possible merger with Banco BPM. To clear antitrust it has already agreed to sell ~635 branches to Unipol/BPER.
Monte dei Paschi CEO Luigi Lovaglio publicly stated that he welcomes the expressions of interest received from both Intesa Sanpaolo and Banco BPM, calling MPS a 'top player' and saying that weighing the options on the table is a duty towards shareholders. It is the first public stance taken by MPS management after the tender offer was launched, signalling openness to the process but expressing no preference between the bids.
Monte dei Paschi's board meets on 22 June 2026 to weigh both Intesa Sanpaolo's tender offer and Banco BPM's alternative proposal: the first formal board meeting since the bid was launched, at which MPS management must take an official position on the two options. It is the first significant procedural step after the seal, but the outcome of the meeting is not yet known.