Local investment fund becomes BOV's second-largest shareholder
Amalgamated Investments SICAV snaps up Unicredit BOV shares
Unicredit has continued to dilute its shareholding of Bank of Valletta, with a local investment fund overtaking it to become BOV’s second-largest shareholder.
The Italian megabank informed BOV this week that it has reduced its shareholding from 5.21% to 3.63%.
Practically all those shares were acquired by Amalgamated Investments SICAV – a Malta-registered investment fund with over €100 million in assets – which increased its BOV position to now hold 5.56% of the bank’s share capital, up from its previous 4%.
That share transfer was communicated in a statement to the market issued by BOV. The sale price was not disclosed. BOV shares were trading at €1.97 on Friday, up from €1.90 a week ago.
The share purchase makes it BOV’s second-largest shareholder behind the Maltese government, edging it past Unicredit and Hili Ventures, which acquired a 4.99% stake in the bank last month.
Amalgamated Investments SICAV has been eyeing a larger position in BOV for years. It was initially poised to fully acquire Unicredit’s 10% stake in BOV and signed a preliminary agreement to do so in 2018.
But that deal fell through and Unicredit – which became a BOV shareholder indirectly when it merged with Capitalia in 2006 – sat on its shares in the local bank for subsequent years.
That changed in July, when it sold 32 million of its BOV shares to Hili Ventures, a holding company controlled by entrepreneur Melo Hili.
Amalgamated Investments Sicav is owned by Mercury plc, which serves as a holding company for the Testaferrata Moroni Viani family. It is chaired by professor Emanual Delia.
The fund targets experienced investors and its portfolio is primarily composed of Malta-based assets: 81.58% of its assets as of 2024 were securities listed on the Malta Stock Exchange.