MPS OKs Banco BPM, Banca Generali swaps to fend off Intesa bid

The board of Italy's third-largest and the world's oldest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), on Thursday approved CEO Luigi Lovaglio's proposals for two defensive share swaps to fend off a 30.6 billion unsolicited takeover bid by Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo, financial sources said. The swaps would be with Italy's fourth biggest banl Banco BPM and with the wealth manager of Italy's top insurer Generali, Banca Generali. Lovaglio recently railed against Intesa Sanpaolo's bid to take over his bank in a conference call with investors after it posted a better-than-expected first-half net profit of 1.1 billion euros, up 25.3% on the equivalent period in 2025. Lovaglio said MPS was working with advisors to find alternatives to Intesa's takeover, which, if it goes through, would see a