UBI Banca CEO asks for guarantees from Italian government in exchange for merger with BMPS
Victor Massiah, the CEO of UBI Banca [BIT:UBI], has asked for guarantees in exchange for agreeing to a merger with BMPS [BIT:BMPS], another listed Italian bank, Italian language daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported. The unsourced report said that Massiah is believed to have asked for the guarantees at a meeting yesterday 27 January with the Minister of Economy Pier Carlo Padoan.
The report said that one of the guarantees that UBI Banca is asking for is protection against BMPS' badwill caused by the fact that its market cap is now much less than its assets. The report said that UBI is also asking for guaranteed liquidity for the merged entity for the next two years. However, the item noted that only the European Central Bank can agree to this.
The report said that Massiah is believed to have asked for further concessions that would benefit UBI Banca.
UBI Banca has a market cap of EUR 4.159bn and BMPS EUR 2.081bn
Il Sole 24 Ore