€31.4 Billion Value for Intesa’s Offer to Acquire Monte dei Paschi in Full
Key Facts
Intesa Sanpaolo valued its offer to acquire Monte dei Paschi at €31.4 billion if fully accepted, including €27.6 billion in shares and €3.8 billion in cash. The estimate followed the addition of €800 million in cash to the original offer, payable if Monte dei Paschi shareholders rejected their defensive plan. On October 29, shareholders rejected the proposal to include Mediobanca in that plan, with 63.65% voting against it, 32.91% in favor and 3.42% abstaining. The vote poses an obstacle to the bank’s proposed defense, but does not mean Intesa’s acquisition is complete. The deal remains subject to the completion of regulatory approvals and procedures.
The original offer included the issuance of 16 new Intesa shares for every 10 Monte dei Paschi shares tendered, plus one euro in cash per share. This structure equates to 1.6 Intesa shares and one euro in cash for each Monte dei Paschi share. After revising the consideration, Intesa said the offer was worth 10.341 euros per Monte dei Paschi share. That represents a premium of 15.3% to the share price on June 5, 2026. Intesa valued the total consideration at full acceptance, based on the reference prices it announced, at €31.4 billion.
Monte dei Paschi Chief Executive Luigi Lovaglio’s plan included two takeover offers for Banco BPM and wealth manager Banca Generali, with a combined value of about €34 billion. The October 29 vote concerned the inclusion of Mediobanca in the defensive plan. A total of 63.65% of shareholders voted against the proposal, while 32.91% supported it and 3.42% abstained. The proposed merger route therefore did not win shareholder support in the vote. Intesa’s offer ties the additional €800 million in cash to shareholders rejecting the defensive plan.
The deal restructuring includes the sale of a banking entity carrying the Monte dei Paschi brand to Unipol, a move Intesa said was intended to proactively address competition issues. A Reuters report said the bank’s network comprises 1,200 branches, and that the plan includes selling half of them to Unipol along with the headquarters in Siena. Unipol is expected to merge the business with BPER under the Monte dei Paschi brand. Intesa valued the cash consideration for the sale of the entity at about €3 billion to €3.5 billion. The company statement does not describe this arrangement as a final, approved regulatory condition.
Intesa says the deal could generate recurring annual synergies of about €2.9 billion once operations stabilize. The estimates include €1.5 billion in cost cuts and €1.4 billion in revenue growth. These estimates form part of the takeover offer, while the regulatory process awaits completion of its steps. Reuters reported that the European Central Bank had granted Intesa approval to take control, describing the approval as a key milestone. Consob was expected to rule on the offer document early the following month, with the competition authority’s decision due in the second half of November 2026.
Intesa expects to complete the sale of the banking entity to Unipol in the second half of 2027, subject to the agreement’s conditions being met. The transfer is part of a plan to redistribute Monte dei Paschi’s businesses after the acquisition, with operations transferred to Unipol to be merged with BPER under the Monte dei Paschi brand. Intesa also said its board would decide on October 30, 2026, on an interim dividend for that year. If the dividend becomes payable before the consideration is settled, Intesa will adjust the share exchange ratio, according to its statement. These steps remain part of the deal’s implementation timetable following the vote and regulatory procedures.