Crédit Agricole has further entangled the battle over Banco BPM by increasing its holdings in the Italian lender, which also faces a takeover bid by UniCredit. The national government reportedly opposes UniCredit’s bid, inadvertently underscoring the complexity of carrying out banking mergers in Europe, even at a domestic level.
The move also complicates UniCredit’s fee income prospects, as the merger could end up doubling the bank’s asset management business and put it in a stronger position to weather an uncertain interest rate environment.
