Merger deal with UniCredit still elusive Legal risks, fragile performance make MPS unattractive
ROME, June 23 (Reuters) - Italy’s Treasury is reviewing options to offload Monte dei Paschi (MPS), including making it easier for a buyer to spin-off some of the ailing bank’s assets, three sources told Reuters.
Political infighting last month forced Rome to drop a costly Treasury scheme aimed at easing a sale of MPS to UniCredit, Italy’s second-largest bank.
And results from a Europe-wide banking stress tests due at the end of July are expected to highlight the fragility of MPS, four years after a bailout that cost taxpayers 5.4 billion euros ($6.5 billion) and handed the Italian state its current 64% stake.