Deals

UBI Top Investor Calls Bid Hostile as Intesa Sticks to Price

Investor holding 18% of UBI Banca says Intesa offer is too low
Bid surprised UBI as Intesa seeks to build sector leader

WATCH: CEO Carlo Messina discusses Intesa’s unsolicited $5.3 billion bid for smaller rival UBI.Source: Bloomberg)

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By Tommaso Ebhardt, Flavia Rotondi, and Sonia Sirletti

February 20, 2020 at 9:36 AM UTC

Updated on

February 21, 2020 at 9:20 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

The top investor group in Unione di Banche Italiane SpA called a takeover bid from Intesa Sanpaolo SpA “unacceptable” and “hostile,” after Intesa’s chief executive officer said he won’t sweeten the offer.

“Intesa’s offer appears hostile, unsolicited and not consistent with UBI’s implicit value, so it is not acceptable,” the CAR investor group, which owns about 18% of the bank, said in a statement after a meeting in the city of Bergamo, where UBI is based.