Generali shares rose roughly 2% on Monday after Intesa Sanpaolo disclosed that its board had approved buying a 3.01% stake in the insurer. The Italian bank framed the move as a short-term, financial operation linked to its unsolicited €30.6 billion bid for Monte dei Paschi di Siena.
Intesa said the acquisition is designed to ensure the bank can continue applying the equity method of accounting to the stake currently held in Generali by Mediobanca, once the MPS offer completes. In its statement, Intesa described the purchase as temporary and financial in nature, rather than a long-term strategic takeover of the insurer.
To manage the position, Intesa's board also approved entering into a hedging derivatives contract with a financial counterparty, using the Generali stake as the underlying asset. The bank characterized the derivatives transaction as part of the mechanics to implement the short-term holding.
The move follows last year’s acquisition of Mediobanca by Monte dei Paschi di Siena, a deal that transferred a roughly 13% stake in Generali to MPS and made Mediobanca the largest investor in the insurer prior to the change in ownership. Intesa itself has a history of interest in Generali: it attempted a bid in 2017 but ultimately abandoned that plan and focused on growing its insurance activities internally.
The announcement links three distinct corporate developments: Intesa's unsolicited offer for MPS; the change in Generali ownership following MPS's takeover of Mediobanca; and the bank’s decision to take a small, temporary equity position in Generali while using a derivatives hedge to manage the exposure. Intesa emphasized the accounting rationale for the purchase and the temporary character of the transaction in its public disclosure.
Contextual note - The bank described the stake purchase and associated hedging as intended to preserve existing accounting treatment connected to the Mediobanca-held position in Generali after the completion of the MPS offer. Beyond these stated objectives, Intesa did not provide additional details about the timeline for the holding or the terms of the hedging contract in the announcement.