Unicredit sells half its stake in Bank of Valletta
Italy-based bank reduces bank shareholding to 5.21%
Unicredit has slashed its position as a minority shareholder in Bank of Valletta, selling half its shares in the local bank.
According to a company announcement issued on Monday, the Italian bank reduced its BOV shareholding to 5.21% of the bank, down from its previous 10.2% equity stake.
It is BOV's second-largest shareholder, after the Maltese government.
Based on the bank’s €1.840 share price as of Monday afternoon, Unicredit sold the equivalent of just over €50 million in BOV shares.
Trading volumes in BOV shares hit a three-year high on Monday.
BOV did not say who had bought Unicredit's shares, instead saying it was “delighted to welcome further diversification of its shareholder base”.
“This transaction not only highlights the robust investor interest in the Bank’s capital instruments but also reinforces the strong market confidence as demonstrated during the Bank's recent bond issue,” BOV said.
The transaction further consolidates the government’s position as BOV’s leading shareholder. It holds a 25 per cent stake in the bank, with two other state-owned entities, Malta Government Investments Limited and the National Development and Social Fund (NDSF) having separate stakes of 0.48% and 2.88% respectively.
Unicredit SPA, which is Italy's second-largest bank, inherited its minority stake in BOV when it merged with Capitalia. It initially held a 14.56% stake in BOV, but that was diluted in 2017 when the bank declined to take part in a new rights issue which BOV used to raise €150 million.
Its decision to divest half of its BOV shareholding means it will no longer be automatically entitled to a seat on the bank's board - a requirement that only applies to shareholders with 10% or more of a company's share capital.
The Italy-based bank had tried to sell its BOV shares back in 2018 but was unable to do so, as a deal with the Testaferrata Moroni Viani family fell through.
It is currently locked in a takeover bid for Banco BPM, Italy's third-largest bank.
That hostile takeover bid has attracted the attention of both the European Commission and the Italian government. The latter told Unicredit it would only approve the bid if Unicredit exited Russia and maintained BPM's project finance portfolio in Italy.
Unicredit won a partial court victory against those government demands on Saturday but it remains unclear whether it intends to proceed with the takeover under current conditions.
It has also been busy in the German banking sector, having accumulated a 20 per cent equity stake in Commerzbank to make it the German bank's single largest shareholder.