Banca Ifis raises the bid to take home illimity. 5% premium with over 90% of subscriptions

MILAN – Banca Ifis has finally opted for the relaunch. In order to conclude the offer on illimity – and to be able to proceed with the merger – the Fürstenberg institution has decided to recognize a cash premium of 5% , equal to 0.1775 euros, for each share of the prey delivered if the adhesion threshold is higher than 90% of the capital . At current stock market prices, the total consideration for the takeover bid would rise to 313 million euros.

A cash prize on the table, but conditional

Ifis' proposal is composed of two parts: one in shares , in the ratio of 0.1 Banca Ifis shares for each illimity Bank share, and one in cash , equal to 1.506 if the premium threshold is not reached and 1.6835 euros otherwise. At yesterday's prices, this translates into a maximum consideration of 3.871 euros per share, still at a premium compared to current stock market prices, but far from the highs reached by the illimity share in 2021, at almost 14 euros.

“No negotiations with illimity”

The aim of the relaunch, explain Ifis, is to overcome the threshold necessary to complete the delisting as a result of the offer, "in line with the declared objective" of "accelerating the start of the integration process between Banca Ifis and illimity". The proposal, admits the president Ernesto Fürstenberg to Ansa , must be attributed to an independent decision of the majority shareholder, the family holding La Scogliera, and "there are no negotiations underway with the counterparty" .

Ifis fears a blocking minority

What management wants to avoid is the possibility of having a minority in the illimity assembly that blocks extraordinary operations, such as leaving the stock exchange or incorporating Ifis into the group. A risk that was taking on increasingly concrete contours with the establishment of a consultation pact that includes approximately 27.2% of the capital, including the share of the founder Corrado Passera .

A first countermeasure taken by Ifis was to raise the essential sub-threshold for the effectiveness of the takeover bid on its rival from 45% plus one share to 60%. With subscriptions still stuck at around 25%, the new incentive aims to tempt the most hesitant shareholders in the last available days, before the closing of the offer set for this Friday.