UniCredit CEO not surprised by government’s reaction to Banco BPM deal

MILAN (Reuters) – UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel said the Italian government’s initial response to his bank’s unsolicited bid for rival Banco BPM is only natural as every change in the banking system needs careful assessment.

After sparking a backlash in Germany in recent months by buying a stake in Commerzbank (ETR:), UniCredit on Monday drew a concerned response from Italy’s government with its 10 billion euro ($11 billion) move on Banco BPM.

The offer, which at this stage is non binding, comes after the government successfully sold a 15% stake of bailed-out Monte dei Paschi di Siena this month, including to Banco BPM, in a prelude to a possible tie-up.

The government has long said it wanted the reprivatisation of MPS to help it create a third big bank in Italy to rival Intesa Sanpaolo (OTC:) and UniCredit.

“These are complicated operations, when you are dealing with the banking system you need to be careful, therefore the fact they (the government) are weighing it up is the correct response that we were expecting,” Orcel told the TG1 national news on RAI.

“The move for BPM is one that has been expected for years, it’s very complementary for us, it doesn’t have a lot of impact on the network…the impact on customers will be all positive, it adds a lot of value,” he added.

($1 = 0.9518 euros)