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The World's Oldest Bank, Having Failed Stress Test, Could Be Sold Off
The world’s oldest bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, has been put up for sale, a report says.
The world’s oldest bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, has
been put up for sale, the Wall Street Journal has
reported, citing unnamed sources.
The bank, which is based in Tuscany and worst performer in recent
stress-tests conducted by European bank supervisors, has
appointed UBS and Citigroup to find a possible buyer or merger
partner, the publication said. The sale process started last
week, it said. The banks have lined up underwriters for a planned
$3.09 billion stock sale for Monte dei Paschi.
The rights offering is expected to take place in the second
quarter of next year, the WSJ said. Shares in the bank
have plunged by around 40 per cent since January.
The bank was founded in 1472.
In a statement issued on 6 November, the bank referred to an
offer for a controlling stake in the bank from NIT Holding – a
Hong Kong-incorporated company, but the wording of the statement
was dismissive.
“The correspondence submitted on behalf of NIT Holding Limited
was received by the bank late in the evening on 3 November 2014
and, in the bank’s opinion, is lacking in sufficiently clear
information to consent any evaluation to be made by the board of
directors. Indeed, without prejudice for a financial means
availability of up to €10 billion ($12.4 billion) to be allocated
to the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Bank’s share
capital, the offer does not include any other basic or
indispensable information typically provided in transactions of
this kind, which would allow for a proper assessment to be
made.
“Furthermore, the document contains information of an extremely
general nature and, though it is addressed to the bank, its
contents seem to address the shareholders since the offer sets
forth the acquisition of a controlling stake in MPS by NIT
Holding Limited; such a circumstance, as far as it is understood
and should it actually occur, may in fact require the launch of a
public tender offer on the shares of the bank itself,” it
said.
