The consolidation process that has been reshaping the Italian banking system for the last three years reached a climax on March 21, when four of the five top banks in the country announced their intentions to merge following hectic negotiations.
This is after a winter when the Italian banking sector appeared paralyzed by the exclusive merger talks between Banca di Roma and Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI).
After three weeks of intense rumours, Unicredito Italiano proposed to BCI (they are respectively the third and the fifth largest bank in Italy) that they should swap their shares.
Just a few hours later, the directors of Sanpaolo-IMI, Italy's largest group, announced a similar operation to merge with Banca di Roma.
The alliance between BCI and Unicredito - to be named Eurobanca - will be Europe's sixth largest bank in terms of total revenues with €10.3 billion ($11.4 billion) and the continent's seventh largest in terms of market capitalization at €39 billion. The exchange ratio would be five shares of BCI to every eight of Unicredito's.
The deal is effectively a takeover of BCI by Unicredito Italiano, whose shareholders will have 63% of the new bank's capital.