Italy govt could use MPS model as template for other privatisations

Rome: The placement of a 25% stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) (BMPS.MI) by Italy’s Treasury earlier this week could serve as a template for Rome’s strategy to cut its stake in other state-controlled companies, the economy minister said on Thursday.

Asked if a stake sale or a merger was the way to further cut the state holding in MPS, Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said the bank could help the government with its broader strategy which is to boost competition in the banking sector by creating a third major player.

Italy attracted strong interest from funds when it sold 25% of MPS via an accelerated book-building (ABB) for 920 million euros ($1 billion) on Monday, advancing plans to re-privatise the world’s oldest bank two years after a failed first attempt.

Answering to whether resorting to an ABB could be an option to cut the government holding in Poste Italiane (PST.MI), he said that the placement is a tool that “is envisaged for many things”.

With Rome owning 64.26% directly and indirectly via state lender CDP, the Italian post office is widely seen as an asset in which the government could look to sell a stake to help hit its 21 billion euro target for privatisation proceeds in the 2024-2026 period.