Intesa’s €32 Billion Offer Wins ECB’s Preliminary Approval to Take Control of Monte dei Paschi
Key Facts
Intesa Sanpaolo said it received preliminary approval from the European Central Bank on 27 October 2026 to acquire control of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, a regulatory step in a cash-and-share offer Reuters valued at about 32 billion euros, or 36 billion dollars. The approval does not mean the offer is complete or that control has passed to Intesa; the deal still requires other procedures and approvals in Italy. The group published its official statement at 20:50, after an earlier news alert about the approval, sent in error, was withdrawn. The move puts the deal at an advanced stage of regulatory review, but does not settle its final course. The offer has also been on the table for months; it was not an initiative that emerged days before the approval.
The approval extends beyond the direct acquisition of control of Monte dei Paschi to include indirect control of Wise Dialog Bank, Mediobanca, Mediobanca Premier and Compass Banca, as well as an indirect qualifying stake in Banca Progetto. SoldiOnline said the approval relates "primarily to the acquisition of the direct controlling stake in Monte dei Paschi." This defines the banking scope reviewed by the European Central Bank, with the regulatory impact extending to other entities within the target group. European approval remains separate from the Italian competition authorities’ assessment of the deal and any conditions they may impose. This step alone is therefore not enough to launch the offer or transfer ownership of the shares.
The next regulatory milestone is approval by Italy’s market regulator, Consob, of the offer document, which Reuters expected in early November 2026. Intesa can then launch the tender period without waiting for a decision from Italy’s competition authority. The authority’s decision is expected in the second half of November, Reuters reported. The tender period will give investors several weeks to assess the decision before the period ends, while the competition review continues in parallel. This sequence means the tender phase may begin before the competition review is complete, with its outcome still part of the deal’s path.
To address competition concerns, Intesa has agreed in advance to sell half of Monte dei Paschi’s branches to insurer Unipol, which will merge them with branches of BPER. Reuters said the arrangements are intended to avert competition objections, while Intesa estimated in its initial announcement that the banking entity being sold would comprise about 635 of Monte dei Paschi’s branches, compared with about 625 branches it would retain. Details of these remedies remain relevant to Italian authorities’ review of the deal, which does not end with ECB approval. Reuters also reported that UniCredit had expressed interest in assets that may be put up for sale as rival banks merge in Italy. This places the redistribution of branches and assets at the heart of the banking competition landscape surrounding the offer.
Intesa presented the deal in June at an implied price of 10.091 euros for each Monte dei Paschi share, with a total value of 30.6 billion euros, according to its initial announcement. The group said the price represented a premium of about 12.5% to the volume-weighted average price on 5 June 2026. This value in the initial announcement differs from Reuters’ later estimate of the offer at about 32 billion euros, or 36 billion dollars. The combined group aims, according to Intesa, to manage about two trillion euros in clients’ financial assets by 2029, while expecting net profit to exceed 16 billion euros that year. These are targets and forecasts announced by the group as part of its offer, not results already achieved.
On the day the approval was announced, Intesa published a separate statement at 17:48 saying it met the capital requirements set by the European Central Bank. EL7 trading data show that Intesa’s shares, traded under the ticker IITSF, closed at 6.63 dollars on 23 October and then at 6.74 dollars on 26 October. Both closing prices predate the official approval announcement on 27 October and therefore reflect no market response to the development. The available information does not include any share-price movement after the announcement. Completion of the deal remains tied to upcoming Italian approvals and the outcome of the competition review, not to preliminary approval alone.