Credit Agricole, UniCredit have floated potential joint move on Banco BPM, sources

By Giuseppe Fonte, Valentina Za and Elvira Pollina

MILAN, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Credit Agricole and UniCredit have recently been considering a possible joint move on Banco BPM under a plan that would entail a break-up of the target bank, two people close to the matter said.

Speaking anonymously because the matter is confidential, the two sources said the idea had been floated in conversations with Italian authorities, as the two lenders assess possible scenarios in the ongoing Italian banking consolidation process.

Credit Agricole, UniCredit and Banco BPM all declined to comment.

UniCredit failed to buy Banco BPM in 2025, partly due to Credit Agricole's opposition, and since then its CEO Andrea Orcel has said Italy's second-largest lender is an "observer" in the country's M&A manoeuvres.

That position has not changed, a person briefed on the matter said.

Having secured virtually half of the voting capital of Germany's Commerzbank after a two-year pursuit, Orcel has not ruled out skipping domestic consolidation altogether.

However, UniCredit could be interested in acquiring branches put up for sale by rivals when they merge, the person said.

Meanwhile, Banco BPM has become a takeover target for Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) which, in turn, is striving to fend off an acquisition attempt by market leader Intesa Sanpaolo.

Credit Agricole, which is the main Banco BPM investor with a 29.3% stake, has expressed opposition to a Banco BPM-MPS tie-up.

Instead, Credit Agricole says it would back a combination of Banco BPM with its Italian unit, but a foreign takeover of Italy's fourth-largest bank would politically sensitive for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ahead of a national election next year.

One idea floated with authorities envisages a break up of Banco BPM, with UniCredit giving Credit Agricole roughly one third of the company, one of the sources said.

News of a potential coordinated move on Banco BPM by UniCredit and Credit Agricole was first reported by the Italian press.

To maintain its domestic profile during the lengthy pursuit of Commerzbank, UniCredit has built a 9% stake in insurer Generali, a prized asset in which MPS could be replaced by Intesa as the main investor if Intesa's takeover succeeds.

The Commerzbank deal will turn Germany into UniCredit's main market while Italy has become the main foreign market for Credit Agricole following a slow but steady two-decade expansion.

"We're prudent, we're patient, and we are here to stay in Italy. So we're looking calmly at all of the different scenarios," Chief Financial Officer Clotilde L'Angevin said in an interview with CNBC television on Wednesday.

"We're in a position where we can defend our interests, nothing can be done without us, nothing can be done against us," she said.

(Additional reporting by Andrea Mandala, editing by Gavin Jones)