(Bloomberg) — Banca Ifis SpA, the Italian lender founded by the billionaire Furstenberg family, is offering to buy rival Illimity Bank SpA, the latest move in a flurry of consolidation activity in the country’s banking sector.
The firm on Wednesday launched a €298 million ($308 million) tender offer in a mix of cash and shares for 100% of Illimity, valuing each Illimity share at €3.55 based on the January 7 closing price. That represents a roughly 5% premium over Illimity’s closing on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg calculations.
The offer price comprises 0.1 newly issued Banca Ifis share and a cash component of €1.414 for each Illimity Bank share, Banca Ifis said in a statement. The Mestre-based lender, advised by CC & Soci and Equita SIM SpA on the deal, estimates synergies at around €75 million ($77.4 million) annually and about €110 million in integration costs this year.
Illimity shares rose the most in almost five years in Milan trading. Shares gained as much as 9.7% and were up 8.9% as of 10:25 a.m., while Banca Ifis fell 0.7%. Illimity’s subordinated bonds due 2031 rose as much as 5.4 cents on the euro to the highest level since February 2022 on Wednesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The €200 million notes were indicated at 97.4 cents at 9:51 a.m. in Milan, the data show.
“We see Banca Ifis as a solid bank, characterized by modest growth, low risk and sound capital, while lower traction from the non-performing loans segment, traditionally Ifis’s main growth driver, represented the main threat in our view,” Mediobanca analyst Simonetta Chiriotti wrote in a note to clients. “In this context, the relaunch of Illimity’s operation appears as a major challenge.”
The move comes as UniCredit SpA angles for a major acquisition through an unsolicited bid for domestic rival Banco BPM SpA, which would create Italy’s biggest lender. Banco BPM for its part has offered to buy asset manager Anima Holding SpA, while at the end of 2024, Italy sold stakes in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA to private investors to further cut its holding.
Illimity was founded by veteran banker and ex-government minister Corrado Passera. It recently signed an agreement with APAX Partners for a new AI and banking services venture, and has reportedly been mulling some asset sales.
Banca Ifis was founded by Sebastien Egon Von Furstenberg in 1983. Its initial business was linked to factoring and credit and it expanded to banking and non-performing loans.
–With assistance from Luca Casiraghi.
(Updates with advisers in third paragraph, shares move update in fourth.)
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