BPER Banca Agrees to Capital Increase Ahead of Intesa Branches Disposal

By Mauro Orru

BPER Banca SpA said Wednesday that its board of directors has agreed to a share capital increase of up to 802.3 million euros ($942.1 million) as it prepares to buy 532 bank branches from Intesa Sanpaolo SpA along with related assets, liabilities and legal relationships.

The Italian retail lender said the increase would be at price of EUR0.90 per share, with a timetable stretching from Oct. 5 to Oct. 23.

The operation will give BPER Banca more liquidity to pay for assets Intesa agreed to divest as part of its deal to take over Unione di Banche Italiane SpA. The disposal should be completed partly in the second half of February 2021 and partly in the second quarter of the year.

Intesa launched a surprise takeover bid for UBI in February, in a deal to create Italy's largest bank by assets and the eurozone's second-biggest by market capitalization. UBI shares will be delisted from the Italian stock exchange on Oct. 5 following Intesa's successful takeover.

Write to Mauro Orru at [e-mail]; @MauroOrru94

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 30, 2020 08:00 ET (12:00 GMT)

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