The Mps stock remains under strong pressure in Piazza Affari, after the news relating to the decision of the French insurance group Axa, the second shareholder of the Sienese bank, to sell almost the entire stake held in the share capital of Monte dei Paschi di Siena.
The shares of Monte di Stato (so well known for having the State as the largest shareholder, which holds a stake of around 64%), collapsed at the start of the session in Piazza Affari up to almost 11%, falling below the threshold of 2.5 euros.
At 1.50 pm Italian time, the shares of the Sienese bank remain bombarded by sells, marking a decline of 8.56%, around 2.5095, against a Ftse Mib (list in which the Sienese bank should make its official entry next month, with the quarterly review to be announced on March 1 and effective from next month’s 20. The news of Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s entry into the FTSE Mib was reported by the Reuters agency, on the basis of rumors reported by some sources.
This is how the Reuters article reads: “According to a trader, the MPS stock benefited from very high liquidity following the capital increase and is therefore a candidate to move from the mid-cap index to the main one, with a free float around at 33%”. It is worth remembering that the MPS stock would be included in the benchmark index of Piazza Affari Ftse Mib for the first time since 2017, when it left the basket, replaced by Banca Generali, after a long period of suspension of the stock from the Stock Exchange.
But why did Axa leave after just a few months of participating in the 2.5 billion Mps capital increase launched in November 2022?
After becoming the second shareholder of Monte dei Paschi by participating in the 2.5 billion euro capital increase of Mps with an injection of 200 million euro in the bank’s capital, thus becoming its second largest shareholder, the French insurance group Axa has decided to sell, in practice, almost the entire stake held in Monte, equal to 8%.
Axa, which owns a share of the capital of Mps equal to 100,008,907 shares, held directly and indirectly, equal to approximately 7.94% of the share capital of Monte dei Paschi, announced yesterday evening that it had launched the disinvestment of 100,000,000 shares, with a private placement operation carried out through an accelerated bookbuilding reserved for institutional investors.
At the conclusion of the offer, according to the note from the French insurance giant, Axa will hold a stake (directly or indirectly), equal to 0.0007% of the capital of Mps.
In the note, the French insurance group, in view of the results of the private placement of the shares held, which should be communicated by today, announced that it “believes that it is appropriate to sell the stake acquired during the capital increase operation, as he does not intend to seek representation on the bank’s board at the next shareholders’ meeting, or influence the bank’s long-term strategy”.
“The offer – he pointed out – has no impact on Axa’s partnership with the bank or on its commitment to the Italian market”.
The placement took place with a 15% discount compared to the latest market prices.
The news comes while the largest shareholder of MPS – the Treasury, with a stake of around 64% – is working on the privatization of Monte di Stato, with its definitive exit from the capital of the Sienese bank, apparently resurrected after the success of the capital increase from 2.5 billion euros launched in November.