Monte de Basti Sales in Italy drinks a scrutiny in the European Union after global investors have been marginalized

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The European Commission is considering selling the controversial Italian government of stocks in Monte de Baschi de Siena last year, after allegations that senior investors had come out of the bidding process.

Unicredit, Norway Fund and Blackrock were among the investors who were interested in buying shares when the Treasury sold a 15 percent share last November, but they were told that the bidding was already closed by Banca Akros, the small local bank that was running the operation, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Instead, the stocks went to four local buyers closely linked to the government’s ambition to build a third column of the Italian banking system to challenge the Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, the largest player in the market.

Rome reduces its share in the deputies Through a series of sales that started in November 2023 to meet the conditions of the European Union associated with the nationalization of the bank in 2017. In two previous sales, JPMorgan, Jefferies, Mediobanca operated the process and investors bought stocks at the prevailing stock price.

The committee is looking into the details of the latest sale to participate, after complaints, to study whether the process is a fair and open market treatment, according to two people who were briefed on the details. This initial evaluation can lead to the opening of an investigation into government aid, but no decision has been taken yet, as people have warned.

A European Commission spokesman declined to comment.

In the sale run by Panca Akros last year, the shares went to its mother company, Panco BM – a lender that the Italian government was hoping to integrate with the deputies – and to the asset manager, Anima, which BPM was just offered to buy.

The remainder of the session went to the families of billionaire Del Vikio and families such as Tagirron, who have risks in many large Italian financial groups.

All four investors paid a 5 percent allowance on shares, according to a statement issued by the treasury at that time.

The Italian government had initially planned to sell a 7 percent stake in deputies, according to its statement, announcing the sale. The next morning, he said that 15 percent of the cabinet share was finally sold.

Bankers said knowledge of the details of the sale that no instructions for demand prices were provided to investors during the provision of “extraordinary” bidding.

Unicredit – which He was fighting to buy Banco BPM In the face of the government opposition – he made an order to buy 10 percent of shares, a large amount that usually includes payment of bonus. When Panca Akros re -called the follow -up, Unicredit was told that the book had been closed, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Banca Akros was behaving as a single book runner in a deal with billions of billions for the first time in its history. The Treasury of America and City also seemed to operate the process before the small local bank chose, according to several people who were briefed on the details of the operation.

Milan prosecutors are also achieving the sale to ensure that the Italian taxpayers get the best possible deal, according to persons familiar with the details of the investigation.

Last month, the Italian financial police seized documents from Panca Akros offices in Milan, according to three other people. The CEO of Unicredit Anda Orcel spoke to the public prosecutor after financial times stated that the bank It was excluded from selling the class In December, according to many people.

Unicredit, the Norway Oil Fund and Blackrock Comment.

Panca Akros said that she “conducted the sale transparently and according to the law with hundreds of institutional investors participating through a digital platform.”

An official in the Italian Ministry of Finance denied any contradiction in the process of building books, which he said followed the “market standard” used internationally and for previous sales in Italy.

He said: “There are urgent (operations) everywhere around the world, and each of these transactions is performed in the same way.” “It is a very record action around the world.”

While Italy had many sales in previous sales of shares, the Ministry of Finance official said that for the stock for the sake of MPS, Banca Akros is committed to the highest price. “In this case, no one matches the price of Akros,” he said.

Shortly after selling the class, Representatives launched a hostile acquisition Among the largest competitors and its long -term consultant Mediobanca, where Caltagirone and DEL VECCHIOS are also the two largest investors. The approval of the European Central Bank on the deal is still pending.

OCEL told Unicredit Idalian Daily La Repubblica last week that the group reported that suspected violations of the sale of MPS last year in Consob from the financial side of Italy.

Additional reports by Barbara Mwins