Clara Vannucci/Bloomberg
Intesa Sanpaolo’s bid to take over Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has picked up crucial support from the Italian bank’s largest shareholder, with Delfin, the Del Vecchio family’s holding company, committing to tender its entire stake into the offer.
Delfin holds a 17.6% stake in MPS, equivalent to roughly 534.68 million shares, and has undertaken to accept Intesa’s takeover terms in full. The firm has also committed to attend MPS’s shareholder meeting on October 29 and vote in line with the terms of Intesa’s offer, a pledge that significantly strengthens the hand of Intesa CEO Carlo Messina as the deal heads toward a decisive vote.
The offer itself has grown substantially since Intesa first made its move. The bank launched an unsolicited bid on June 8 valued at roughly €30.6 billion, later sweetened to approximately €35.4 billion, a roughly 12.5% premium over where MPS shares traded before the initial approach. Under the current terms, MPS shareholders would receive 1.6 new Intesa shares plus €1 in cash for every share they hold, with the tender offer expected to formally launch in late 2026 pending regulatory approvals.
Funding the deal required buy-in from Intesa’s own shareholders too. They approved the issuance of up to 5.7 billion new shares to finance the takeover, with the vote passing by a commanding 97%. Messina has worked to stay on good terms with MPS’s two principal investors, Delfin and billionaire businessman Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, and the roughly €3 billion cash component built into the offer appears designed specifically to bring both of them on board.
With Delfin’s full stake now committed, Intesa’s path to securing the deal looks considerably clearer heading into the October 29 vote, a milestone that would mark one of the most significant moves yet in reshaping Italy’s banking landscape.
