French insurer Axa is considering a 100 million euro ($97.99 million) investment in a new share sale by Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, but is not proposing any changes to its existing joint venture with the Tuscan bank.
State-owned MPS has held talks with Axa and asset manager Anima, who both distribute their products through MPS branches, over their participation in the upcoming new share issue, which will be worth up to 2.5 billion euros.
Up to 1.6 billion euros in shares can be purchased by the state, but MPS must raise the rest from private investors due to European Union rules on state aid.
While Anima is understood to be seeking a revision of their commercial agreement with MPS, AXA’s investment is not tied to any such conditions, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
It is understood that Axa is considering investing between 100 million and 150 million euros in the share sale, although the company has declined to comment on the speculation.
No agreement has yet been reached according to the sources.
MPS had been reluctant to involve Anima and AXA because commercial ties over fee-yielding businesses could hamper its future search for a merger partner.
MPS had considered launching the share offer on October 10th if it could secure cornerstone investors by then, but has pushed the date back to October 17th after failing to do so.