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France’s Crédit Agricole has said it will boost its stake in Banco BPM in a move that will complicate UniCredit’s approach for the Italian lender.
Crédit Agricole, which is already Banco BPM’s largest shareholder, said on Friday that it had entered into financial contracts that would boost its stake in the lender from 9.9 per cent to 15.1 per cent. It added that it would seek approval from Italian regulators to own up to 19.99 per cent of Banco BPM.
The move by the French lender, which mirrors UniCredit’s surprise stake building in Germany’s Commerzbank earlier this year, comes after Banco BPM rejected its rival’s €10.1bn takeover bid late last month.
The approach marked UniCredit chief executive Andrea Orcel’s latest attempt to forge a European banking champion. Crédit Agricole said its share deal announced on Friday was “consistent with Crédit Agricole’s strategy as a long-term investor and partner of Banco BPM”.
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