Italian mid-sized bank BPER has expressed its willingness to have in-depth discussions with Carige’s owners on the offer to takeover the troubled bank.

BPER’s response comes after Carige’s backers rejected the former’s offer because they could not agree on capital injection in Carige.

Last week, BPER made a non-binding bid for Carige and demanded a $1.1bn capital injection to buy the bank.

Italy’s depositor protection fund, the FITD, which owns an 80% stake in Carige, stated that it could only offer €600m to €700m.

“BPER Banca reiterated to the FITD its willingness to provide clarifications requested and to carry out the investigations deemed necessary, as well as to jointly verify the assumptions underlying the Offer; all in the context of an adequate exclusivity regime,” BPER has said in its response.

Italy’s depositor protection fund acquired a controlling stake in Carige after €600m rescue in 2019. Cassa Centrale Banca (CCB), a regional peer, also holds an 8.3% stake in Carige.

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BPER had offered to pay €1 to acquire FITD and CCB’s combined 88.3% stake. It plans to spend another €70m to buy out the remaining stake.

If the deal goes through, it will increase BPER’s assets by 20% to €150bn. Currently, the bank holds the fifth position in the Italian market.

Meanwhile, Monte Dei Paschi (MPS) has announced plans to raise €2.5bn to plug the capital gap after talks to divest it failed.

The Italian government and UniCredit ended talks for the sale of MPS because they could not reach an agreement on capital injection.