After seven years at the top and 37 in the bank, the day after tomorrow, Wednesday 21 April, the shareholders’ meeting of Bper Banca will not confirm the appointment of the managing director Alessandro Vandelli, the author of the transformation of the Popolare dell’Emilia-Romagna into one of the big three player Italians, behind the two big Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit.
Vandelli, in a previous interview, you said that the Intesa-Ubi operation, after which Bper acquires over 600 branches, was absolutely necessary. Are you still convinced?
Of course, today more than ever. For B for a historic turning point, made possible only thanks to the commitment of many people, who among other things worked in a period of full health emergency. There are still about thirty branches to complete the operation, which we will acquire from Intesa Sanpaolo by June. a complex operation, of course, but we will derive extraordinary benefits from it in terms of size and quality asset and strategic positioning. A figure for everyone: Bper goes from 90 billion in assets to 125-130 billion. I remember that the assets were around 60 billion in 2014.
Your hypothesized merger with Ubi, were you really one step away?
It wouldn’t be fair to say that. In the last months of 2019 I met a few times with the CEO of Ubi, to get to know each other better and to start understanding the numbers of the two banks. Some harmony had emerged, then at the beginning of December the contacts were interrupted and Ubi announced an industrial plan stand alone. I believe, in any case, that the two banks were expressions of varied and different equity realities: a merger hypothesis would have required a lot of in-depth analysis.
The amendment to the Statute cost her the job.
We initiated last year and completed in January 2021 a profound change in governance of the group, modifying the rules of the Articles of Association governing the election of the board of directors. We did this taking into account a peculiar shareholding structure, which is essentially based on three poles: the Unipol group, the Fondazione di Sardegna and institutional investors. The amendment excluded the possibility of submitting a list expressing the outgoing board of directors to the vote in the shareholders’ meeting, thus placing all decisions relating to new directors in the hands of the shareholders. it was a choice consistent with our path, which did not look at personal interests, but at the best structure for the bank.
Do you want us to believe that you are happy with how it went?
I can’t say I’m happy. But I am calm and I am convinced that I have done well. I believe that the work of recent years has favored very significant progress: today the Bper group in full health. If I look back, I see this integration of the former Ubi and former Intesa branches as the completion of a strategic plan and the end of a path. I think I did what was right for Bper: we have grown, we are credible, we have matured as a market player. And above all we can contribute to the growth of the territories in which we operate.
There are those who argue that its relations with the shareholder Unipol were not ideal. cos?
My relationship with the main shareholder has always developed in a linear and positive way. I am convinced that having been able to count in recent years on the convinced support of a cohesive core of shareholders, certainly including the Unipol group, but also the Fondazione di Sardegna, which today control about 30 percent of the capital, has been a strength and an important strategic advantage.
Its a completely internal path. When did you join Bper?
Immediately after graduating in Economics in Modena. It was 1984, I was 25, I was one of the first graduates hired in what was then called Banca Popolare dell’Emilia. I was assigned to the Foreign Office and after three months the turning point arrived: I entered the Credit Department as a budget analyst. A few years later I started the bank’s corporate finance unit, then over time the other assignments arrived: the responsibility of the equity investments and special projects service, the general management of Banco di Sardegna, the role of deputy general manager and CFO, finally the appointment as CEO in April 2014. I owe a lot to many colleagues and, in particular, to three presidents: Guido Leoni who made me grow, Ettore Caselli who wanted me to lead the bank, Pietro Ferrari with whom we shared the last three years, truly unrepeatable.
He was appointed CEO and immediately launched a capital increase.
At the end of 2013 the then president Caselli asked me if I felt ready to become CEO. I replied that I was honored and absolutely available, but that I would put forward the proposal for a capital increase at the first useful meeting of the Board. So I did: the shareholders received 750 million euros which allowed us, even then, to play in advance. We understood that we needed to work on non-performing loans and improve asset quality.
remained at the top in the seven years in which the banking world has completely changed profile.
Many things have happened in these seven years. I recall three in particular: the passage under the supervision of the ECB, at the end of 2014; the transformation from a cooperative to a joint stock company in 2016 and, in the meantime, the overcoming of the federal model, which for years has characterized the bank. it was a work of extraordinary simplification, just think that we had come to have a dozen banking institutions in various parts of Italy. Now the Bper group made up of two commercial banks – the parent company and Banco di Sardegna, leader in the island – and a complete set of product companies.
You have grown a lot. With what peculiar aspect?
I believe that our distinctive, and in many ways original, trait is the ability to combine significant growth processes with attention to credit quality. We acted decisively to reduce non-performing loans and, in the meantime, external growth occurred only with acquisitions that could benefit asset quality. Furthermore, we have stayed away from shortcuts that would have harmful consequences over time: we have never sold the product factories, keeping the value chain intact. We are the first shareholders of Arca Fondi sgr, we have companies in consumer credit, leasing, factoring and long-term rental. In recent years we have sold over 5 billion NPLs, but the management and recovery company of bad debts, Bper credit management, remained at home. Thus we have made the bank more solid and capable of generating revenues: the ratio between commissions and interest margin, at the top of the income statement, is almost equal.
What future do you see for Bper?
Bper must continue its growth and development path. Of course, I would like it to be able to remain linked to these territories, without forgetting its origins. After all, Emilia-Romagna has an economic-financial panorama that only Lombardy in Italy can boast. There are important banks such as Bper, Credem and Crdit Agricole Italia, there is one of the largest Italian insurance groups, precisely Unipol. The integrated and state-of-the-art university system, here operate first-rate service and consulting companies and an excellent entrepreneurial system ”.
Now, what am I going to do?
The assembly will take place on Wednesday, April 21: I will end my mandate as CEO and from the following day I will try to facilitate the handover with the new CEO and the new board in the most fluid and linear way possible. I wish the bank and colleagues the best for the future, the ties of 37 years of common work will not be canceled.
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