Atlas: hypothesis fusion in the two months between Bpvi, Veneto Banca – Corriere della Sera

CREDIT INSTITUTIONS

Atlas: hypothesis fusion in two months
between Bpvi, Veneto Banca

Sent to Iorio and Carrus to prepare shared plan by the end of the year. The unions: it would be serious for employees and customers

MILAN Questio sgr, fund manager at Atlas, has sent to the board of directors of Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca a letter in relation to the industrial plans that will be presented by the end of the year to the Ecb, asking that they examine the hypothesis of a merger. “Under the plan is appropriate for the two banks to assess a possible scenario of the merger and identify clearly the synergies than a stand-alone”, reads the letter Quastio. Two months to develop the plan of merger. The project will work the two managing directors, Christian Carrus for Veneto banca and Francesco Iorio for the Popolare di Vicenza, together with their closest collaborators. The request of the fund, the Atlas comes to the valley of the discussions with the Ecb. Quaestio, asking to see the plans before they are forwarded to Frankfurt, it suggests the establishment of a “steering committee” composed mainly of the directors of the banks and consultants̶ 1; in order to “ensure the necessary coordination between the two banks, and between the management and the respective boards”.

“For the greater efficiency of the process we think that the plan should be prepared by management, together with consultants common to the two banks,” says Question, that asks management to report to the bod on the progress of the works “on a weekly basis given the limited time available”. In relation to the plan manager of the fund, the Atlas also suggests that “to be highlighted the extraordinary initiatives that are scheduled for 2017, aimed at re-establishing a solid foundation on which to build the industrial relaunch”. For each measure must be indicated on the “estimated impact on key capital ratios of the bank.” The plan must also contain “the details of the levers of industrial and financial measures,” which the banks intend to adopt “to ensure the sustainability of the business continuity and the ultimate return to profitability.” “We expect that the plan” containing the hyp othesis of a merger between the Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca “may herald a definitive break with the past and an equally definitive renewal and revival of the two institutions that you have the burden of driving”. It is how he writes Alessandro Penati, president of the Quaestio Sgr, fund manager at Atlas, to the board of directors of the two banks, in the letter with which he urged the preparation of a common plan that, in the event of a merger.

The general secretaries of the trade unions of the bank – off against the merger between Veneto Banca and Banca Popolare di Vicenza, whose “yard” was opened with the meeting. “We reiterate once again that the merger between these two institutions would create enormous difficulties between employees, because of the overlapping of the branches and the eventual summation of the two directorates-general, but also an economic loss to customers, as loans to businesses may decrease compared to the current amounts tendered,” reads a note of Fabi, First-Cisl, Uilca, Fisac-Cgil and trade Union Unity. In particular, the trade unions, if they take it, with the top management of Veneto Banca, Beniamino Anselmi and Christian Carrus, that in a meeting last October 26, “we have personally reassured” about the fact that “the merger with Popolare di Vicenza, was only one of many options on the table, and that they preferred to implement an Industrial Plan, albeit heavy, but manageable through redundancies, volunteers, and a reduction in the cost of the work.”