MPS Exchange Offer: Messina envisions a future without Lovaglio

(Alliance News) - Carlo Messina has clearly indicated that Luigi Lovaglio does not figure in the future plans for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena outlined in the public exchange offer (OPAS) launched by Intesa Sanpaolo.

As reported by Il Messaggero on Tuesday, the group CEO believes that while the manager has completed the bank's restructuring, he is not the right figure to lead its development over the next five years.

Presenting the offer for MPS to the market, Messina highlighted how the deep divisions within the Sienese bank's board of directors - which culminated in the April 15 shareholders' meeting that confirmed Lovaglio at the helm - make the implementation of a coherent industrial plan more difficult. In his view, a divided board limits a CEO's ability to successfully execute their strategic vision.

The transaction proposed by Intesa Sanpaolo would also effectively scrap the integration plan between MPS and Mediobanca supported by Lovaglio.

Under the scheme outlined by Messina, a portion of the assets, including Mediobanca, would be absorbed into Intesa Sanpaolo, while Unipol would acquire approximately half of the branch network to integrate it with BPER Banca, which would then take on the name Banca Monte dei Paschi.

Messina presented the offer as a choice between a bank characterized by complex governance and Italy's leading credit operator.

The executive emphasized Intesa Sanpaolo's expertise in M&A transactions, arguing that the group possesses the managerial capacity required to deliver the project and ensure long-term continuity.

The MPS board of directors now has both Intesa Sanpaolo's exchange offer and a merger proposal put forward by Banco BPM on the table.

However, according to Messina, any defensive countermoves by the Sienese bank would be complicated by the passivity rule, which would require approval from an extraordinary shareholders' meeting and a qualified majority - a goal made more difficult by the divisions among shareholders and within the board itself.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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