Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo CEO Carlo Messina has dismissed media reports that stated that the bank is looking for cross-border deals in Eastern Europe following the acquisition of UBI Banca, Reuters reported.
In a media call, Messina has ruled out any interest in eastern European assets.
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Messina said: “We have no interest in Eastern Europe.”
Intesa’s €4.9bn takeover bid for UBI Banca has been recently concluded. The bid was first launched in February 2020 and ended on 30 July.
Intesa acquired UBI Banca with the support of 90.2% of the UBI’s shareholders.
The takeover created the second largest European bank in terms of market capitalization and eighth-largest bank by assets in the Eurozone.
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By GlobalDataMessina said: “We have overtaken Santander in terms of market capitalization. That’s something we are proud of.”
Messina said that in the short term the lender will be focussing on integrating UBI.
He also added that cross-border deals are unlikely to happen in Europe in the next six to nine months due to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Intesa overcame the shareholder and management opposition as well as all regulatory hurdles to secure control of UBI.
In the last two months, Intesa secured approvals from European Central Bank (ECB), the market regulator Consob and the antitrust nod from the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM).
Intesa Sanpaolo registered a 16% increase in second-quarter profits and posted a net income of €1.4bn ($1.7bn), up from €1.2bn a year ago.
