Pop Sondrio, US merchant bank raises 10 percent capital - Sole24ore

A U.S. "large investment bank" is moving to build a weighty position in the capital of Pop Sondrio with the aim of facilitating the entry of a large Italian bank.

This was written by Il Sole 24 Ore, adding that the deal concerns the collection of a 10 percent stake in the former popular and that, regarding the Italian bank involved, "the trail would lead toward UniCredit."

According to the newspaper, which reports a no comment from UniCredit, there would not, however, be a scenario of a clash with Pop Sondrio's main shareholder, the Unipol group, which in September doubled its stake in the institution to nearly 20 percent, a move that the market had seen as functional to a possible merger between Banca Popolare di Sondrio and Bper, a bank in which the insurance group holds a stake of nearly 20 percent as the largest shareholder.

Pop Sondrio did not comment.

(Andrea Mandalà, editing Sabina Suzzi)