MILAN (Reuters) – A financial investor which is not already a shareholder in Anima Holding has tasked Mediobanca with buying a stake of up to 9% in the Italian asset manager, the investment bank said on Tuesday.
An investor document seen by Reuters showed Mediobanca was buying shares – through an accelerated reverse bookbuilding procedure – at 4.35 euros a share. That represents a premium of 7.5% to Tuesday’s closing price of 4.046 euros/share.
The stakebuilding comes a week before a deadline for the submission of lists of candidates for the renewal of Anima’s board of directors. Based on the company’s by-laws, a 9% stake would allow the investor to secure a seat on the board.
Mediobanca, acting as sole bookrunner, said the minimum size of the deal was a stake of 7.5%, without providing details on the identity of the investor on whose behalf it was acting.
The investor is Italian and is neither a bank nor an insurance, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Anima is Italy’s biggest independent asset manager and has often been seen as a potential takeover target.
Last year, French asset manager Amundi emerged as the third-biggest investor in Anima with a 5.2% stake.
The move raised alarm in Rome where the previous government led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi had regarded positively Anima’s plans to remain independent, sources told Reuters at the time.
Anima’s single biggest shareholder is Banco BPM, Italy’s No. 3 bank, followed by the Italian post office, Poste Italiane.
Mediobanca said Anima’s new investor did not plan to launch a buyout offer over the next 12 months.
(Reporting by Valentina Za and Federico Maccioni; Editing by Leslie Adler)
