Banca Intesa Sanpaolo in acquisition mode with EUR 8bn war chest; focus on Switzerland and UK
Banca Intesa Sanpaolo [BIS], the Italian banking group, is in acquisition mode and has up to EUR 8bn to spend, Boersen-Zeitung reported. The German newspaper quoted Carlo Messina, the chief executive of BIS who was speaking at an event held in Milan in front of the foreign press.
Messina explained in the article that BIS is eyeing growth in countries with a “AAA” rating, but is especially interested in Switzerland and the UK. He added that Germany is also an interesting market, but highlighted that no private banking or asset management targets are available in that particular country.
It was previously reported that BIS could look at Coutts, the private banking arm of RBS. In a separate article from Il Sole 24 Ore, Messina was quoted as saying that his understanding is that RBS only wants to sell the international activities of Coutts and not the brand. This is therefore less interesting for BIS, the report said. He was also quoted as saying that the bank intends to build a private equity team in London by hiring from other institutions.
Boersen-Zeitung, Il Sole 24 Ore, previously reported intelligence