MPS shareholders reject CEO Lovaglio plan to fend off Intesa Sanpaolo takeover

MPS shareholders reject CEO Lovaglio plan to fend off Intesa Sanpaolo takeover

(ANSA) - ROME, 29 OTT - The shareholders of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) on Thursday rejected two key parts of CEO Luigi Lovaglio's plan to fend off a 33-billion-euro takeover ‌bid by Intesa Sanpaolo for MPS, giving the thumbs down to offers for rival Italian lender Banco BPM and wealth manager Banca Generali. Over 91% of MPS's capital present at Thursday's meeting voted against the BPM move, with 6,47% in favour and 2.41%. The other part of Lovaglio's defensive plan, the bid for wealth manager Banca Generali, was rejected too. Votes against the proposal accounted for 90.9% of the capital present, while 6.66% voted in favour and 2.41% abstained. The rejection of both offers effectively puts a definitive end to the plan devised by Lovaglio to ward off Intesa Sanpaolo's attentions. Earlier on Thursday MPS's shareholders rejected a proposal for it to merge with Mediobanca, Italy's premier merchant bank, which it acquired earlier this year. The proposal needed the support of two-thirds of the bank's capital to be approved, but 63.65% voted against, with only 32.91% in favour and 3.42% abstaining. Intesa Sanpaolo had asked MPS's shareholders to reject the merger, in view of its takeover. (ANSA). Read article...