Export banks. The European matches of Intesa and Unicredit. Here are all the steps to further grow- time.news

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Export banks.  The European matches of Intesa and Unicredit.  Here are all the steps to further grow

Momentarily excluded from the domestic risk, Intesa because it has already taken, Unicredit because it has preferred not to take, the two largest banks in the national system have aimed their radar systems on the more structured European market, where both are already present, but presumably where the their long-term future.


Outside the Italian borders, despite all the difficulties of the case, there are masses and opportunities capable of changing the profile of the two leading groups, which are repeatedly reported on the buy side of many games that are currently being played in the Old Continent.

Frankfurt

Andrea Orcel, CEO of Unicredit
Andrea Orcel, CEO of Unicredit

The most strategic is that of the German Commerzbank. The Frankfurt institute has long been in trouble and needs a solid partner to water down the past and look confidently to the future. Among the many potential buyers, three are the most popular, all with excellent reasons. In Germany, many support Deutsche Bank’s candidacy. An all-German wedding, all in Frankfurt, the financial capital of Europe, which would not hurt Teutonic self-esteem and which underestimates the enormous unknowns that still accompany the path of the potential buyer, Deutsche Bank. The bank symbol of the German economy, even if in the last year it gained 27 per cent on the stock market, still far from the pace and growth rates that had characterized it until 2015. Today Deutsche Bank is worth less than half of Intesa Sanpaolo and 20 percent less than Unicredit. To the point that thinking of a super bank based in Frankfurt, if on the one hand satisfies the nationalistic instincts of Berlin, on the other hand highlights the objective difficulties in reaching a possible merger.

On the other hand, the ambitions of the other two potential buyers appear to be more concrete. On the one hand, the Dutch Ing advances the cultural proximity to Germany, on the other hand proposes a model that would enhance integration: to the strength of Ing on the market retail, Commerzbank’s qualified experience in the corporate

Gae Aulenti square

And Unicredit? The bank in Piazza Gae Aulenti already has a strong presence in southern Germany with Hvb. Integrating Commerzbank’s skills and portfolio into what has been the leading continental economy for decades would represent a big step forward for Andrea Orcel in terms of long-term competitiveness. Unicredit, after the stop on Mps, seems determined to look beyond national borders. I am aware of his interest in Russia, where Moscow has put Otkritie Bank up for sale, but the Commerzbank opportunity cannot be underestimated, also because it would strengthen its presence in an area, that of Central Europe, which would integrate perfectly with its activities. which Unicredit holds in the easternmost area of ​​the Old Continent.

Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo
Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo

For its part, Intesa has for some time turned on all possible radars to consolidate its foreign presence. At the moment the armies of Carlo Messina control some banks in Balkan Europe, areas with high economic growth where the Ca ‘de Sass group led by Marco Elio Rottigni. But, unlike Unicredit, Intesa today seems more interested in expanding its range of action through the acquisition of individuals business, better if highly specialized. the case of the Swiss Julius Baer, ​​one of the most important banks of the confederation as regards the wealth management and asset management: zero branches and 490 billion Swiss francs of assets under management. Intesa has set its sights on Julius Baer, ​​but nothing has been concluded at the moment. For the Italian group it would be an extraordinary opportunity for growth on international markets with greater added value. And in this direction, business circumscribed and highly profitable, which is focusing the attention of the first Italian bank, strongly willing to expand its foreign presence, but not to take on models of business exceeded.

At the European level, the big ones player appear quite individual. Bnp Paribas looks at everyone from the top of its almost 80 billion capitalization and with the Spanish Santander it offers the impression of being part of another league, of a championship to which not everyone is admitted. An enviable position that of Bnp Paribas, scratched by the increasingly evident tensions on the Italian market, where the subsidiary BNL starts its second strike within a month, caused by outsourcing projects ranging from IT to back office, from the closure of branches to the sale of Axepta. A strategy that feeds every voice, even those of a large Parisian group leaving the market retail Italian, after 15 years of direct presence.

French suite

Giampiero Maioli, leads the activities
Giampiero Maioli, leads the Italian activities of Crdit Agricole

But the French banks show great strategic vision. Crdit Agricole highlights this, which with its Italian branch led by Giampiero Maioli has been able to play a leading role in the restructuring of the credit sector in the Peninsula and could continue to do so in the coming months. Socit Gnrale, on the other hand, is more cautious, another large bank based in Paris which, after flirting with Unicredit in the first months of the management of Jean Pierre Mustier, played the role of the beautiful and unapproachable, which perhaps now she could overcome, still looking towards Italy , not necessarily to Unicredit.

The other Spanish, the Bbva, Banco di Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, is also of great size, very rooted in Latin America and especially in Mexico, where an important part of its business matures. The BBVA which has just opened a digital front on the Italian market: peanuts, compared to the real potential of the Spanish group. The matches, at the moment, seem different.

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