Italy to Sell Shares in Banca Monte Dei Paschi for $704 million

Rome: Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said it will reduce its stake in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and plans to raise around 650 million euros ($704 million).

The Italian state said Tuesday that it will sell around 157.5 million ordinary shares of the lender, corresponding to around 12.5% of the capital, through an accelerated book building reserved to Italian and foreign institutional investors.

The state, which owns 39% of the bank, will get EUR4.150 a share. The price represents a discount of 2.5% compared to the closing price on Tuesday, the ministry said.

Following the transaction, Italy will reduce its stake in the bank to around 27% of the share capital.

In November last year, the Italian state sold a 25% stake for EUR920 million in attempts to privatize the bank two years after a failed first try.

The ministry said it committed not to sell additional shares on the market for a period of 90 days. The settlement of the transaction will be on April 2, it added. At 0802 GMT shares were down 2.5% at EUR4.14.