EU Warns Italy's Golden Power on UniCredit-BPM Deal May Breach Union Rules

(Alliance News) - The "Golden Power" invoked by the Italian government "could constitute a violation of Article 21 of the EU Merger Regulation and other provisions of EU law," according to European authorities.

Following a ruling by the Regional Administrative Court (TAR), the European Commission has now weighed in on the decree through which Prime Minister Meloni's government in April imposed stringent conditions on UniCredit's public exchange offer (OPS) for Banco BPM.

Rome now has two months to present its counterarguments. Based on Italy's response to the preliminary assessment and the outcome of the TAR ruling, the European Commission will determine its next steps.

The week began with a strongly worded statement from UniCredit, which, following the Lazio administrative court's verdict, described the government's use of the measure to safeguard "national interests" as "illegitimate," while also highlighting "misleading and aggressive campaigns."

"Public security, among other things, constitutes a legitimate interest and is explicitly mentioned in Article 21, paragraph 4, of the EU Internal Market Regulation. However, the European Commission's preliminary view is that the justification for the conditions is currently lacking in motivation, and the Commission probably should have reviewed the decree before its implementation," Brussels stated in its initial opinion.

UniCredit shares were slightly up at EUR57.96 per share, while Banco BPM gained 3.5% to EUR10.38 per share.

By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter

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