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Ten euros and fifty cents per share. This is the amount of the OPA that Crdit Agricole packaged and presented to the shareholders of Credito Valtellinese, confirming the great interest of the French group, led in Italy by Giampiero Maioli, in the Italian market. An offer that aims to achieve full control of Creval by Crdit. Crdit Agricole already controlled 9.8 percent of the bank that for a couple of years led by Luigi Lovaglio and notes in its shareholders register the significant presence of the French industrialist Denis Dumont, in addition to having signed an important commercial agreement in 2019 in the field of bancassurance.
The price offered by Crdit Agricole Italia is equivalent to a total investment of 737 million euros to get to own 100% of the shares of Credito Valtellinese. The consideration represents a premium of 21.4% for the current shareholders of Creval over the price of the shares of Crédito Valtellinese as of November 20, 2020, a premium that amounts to 53.9% compared to the average price per share registered in the last 6 months.
Two solid benches
In communicating the transaction, Crdit Agricole highlighted how the combination of Crdit Agricole Italia and Credito Valtellinese consolidates the group’s position as a sixth-place commercial bank in Italy, committed to serving its 3 million customers in the best possible way, leveraging a shared culture of ongoing support for local communities. It is written, it is an alliance of two solid banks characterized by good performance, which will allow a significant creation of value, for the benefit of all stakeholders and, for Credito Valtellinese clients: an even stronger banking group, with a attractive and comprehensive offer of financial solutions, benefiting from the entire European-leading bancassurance offer of the Crdit Agricole group, already present in Italy; with a return on investment (Roe index, to) estimated at more than 10 percent in 3 years.
On the stock exchange
Last Friday, Creval shares closed on the Milan Stock Exchange at € 8.695 and this morning the Creval share opened strongly, gaining 22.25% to € 10.63 after 40 minutes of trading. No card-by-card option, Agricole pays cash, which has always been the preferred option for shareholders. Also because Crdit Agricole Italia, which is unlisted, unlike the Paris-based parent company, has completed the acquisition.
Giampiero Maioli, Executive Director by Crdit Agricole Italia e Head of the Crdit Agricole group for Italy, underlined how with this operation, Credito Valtellinese clients and colleagues will gain access to the same financial products and services among the best in the Crdit Agricole Italia market, benefiting from the size, solidity and innovative culture focused on the client of the Crdit Agricole Group , and the aggregated entity will maintain its strong commitment to supporting Italy and local communities. Agricole, which in Italy in recent years has acquired Pioneer’s managed savings under the Unicredit brand, but also the Cesena, Rimini and San Miniato savings banks and, previously, CariSpezia, Friuladria and Cariparma, now serves 4.5 million clients in the country, through more than 1,000 points of sale (mainly branches of Crdit Agricole Italia, Crdit Agricole FriulAdria and Agos, a company specialized in consumer credit), with the support of 14,000 employees. Italy contributes 15 percent of Crdit Agricole’s total net profit, making it the second largest national market for the French group.
Ariberto Fassati, President of Agricole in Italy, emphasized that Credito Valtellinese shares with us many of the basic values that represent the reason for being of Crdit Agricole Italia: the roots in the territory, the attention to the local communities and the social and business fabric reference, the enhancement of people, the sustainability of the business model. With this integration we are convinced that we can create added value for all Interested.
