Monte dei Paschi di Siena has secured 62% of Mediobanca, bourse data shows, paving the way for a shake-up at the bid target where long-standing CEO Alberto Nagel is preparing to step down.
Reuters reported last week that Nagel would leave his post at the head of the merchant bank, which he has held since 2008, if Monte dei Paschi (MPS) secured a majority of Mediobanca's capital.
The offer will run for a further week from September 16, giving MPS a chance to get closer to the two-thirds majority targeted by its chief executive Luigi Lovaglio.
Mediobanca's board could resign as early as September 18, when its next meeting is scheduled, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
The conquest of one of the most prestigious names in Italian finance by MPS, a symbol of the country's banking woes before a 2017 bailout, ushers in a new era for the sector, which is consolidating fast to shield profit margins as interest rates decline and the focus shifts to wealth management.
After UniCredit thwarted plans by Italy's Treasury and Lovaglio to promote a combination of MPS and rival Banco BPM, the Tuscan bank shocked the country's financial elites by targeting Mediobanca.
Having led the restructuring of MPS, Lovaglio had been looking for a merger partner, saying mid-sized banks such as MPS needed to join forces to shoulder rising technology investments.
MPS' re-privatisation last year brought onboard as leading shareholders construction magnate Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and the heirs of late Ray-Ban owner Leonardo Del Vecchio.
Caltagirone and the Del Vecchio family's investment vehicle Delfin are also the main shareholders in Mediobanca.
They have long been at odds with Nagel, clashing with Mediobanca over insurer Generali, where Mediobanca, Caltagirone and Delfin are the top three investors.
Caltagirone and Delfin have both been critical of Generali's decision to merge its asset management operations with France's Natixis, a deal which has also raised alarm in Rome and is now seen as likely to fall through.
