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Bloomberg
UniCredit SpA, Italy’s biggest bank by market value, climbed in Milan trading after news agency Ansa reported talk of a combination with France’s Societe Generale SA.
UniCredit rose as much as 5.8 percent and was up 2.5 percent at 2.35 euros as of 9:57 a.m. Societe Generale was trading 1.4 percent higher at 40.35 euros. The stock has declined 5.1 percent this year, giving the company a market value of 32.6 billion euros. UniCredit is down 53 percent this year.
Talk of a tie-up between the two banks as well as a capital increase for UniCredit of more than 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) is circulating widely in “financial circles,†Ansa reported, citing sources it didn’t identify. Representatives of UniCredit and SocGen declined to comment.
UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Jean Pierre Mustier was head of SocGen’s corporate and investment-banking division and a member of the board before leaving the Paris-based bank in 2009. The Frenchman, who joined UniCredit in July, is facing pressure to improve the bank’s capital reserves and restore profitability.
Unlike many of its peers, Paris-based Societe Generale has managed to avoid a deep restructuring of its investment bank. Third-quarter profit jumped on higher revenue from
trading stocks and bonds.