MILAN (Reuters) -UniCredit is not discussing a potential tie-up with BPER and its main shareholder Unipol, a spokesperson for the Italian bank said on Wednesday.
UniCredit dismissed rumours about potential negotiations between the parties as “entirely unsubstantiated”.
“We are disappointed with the constant speculation and rumours being circulated,” the UniCredit spokesperson said.
Italian daily La Stampa on Wednesday wrote that UniCredit had turned its sights on BPER, after abandoning a takeover attempt on Banco BPM in July.
In May, a report in Il Sole 24 Ore daily mentioned market chatter about UniCredit having bought BPER shares.
“We have an excellent relationship with Unipol and BPER and regularly have conversations at a business level on numerous topics, but there are no active discussions regarding a combination between the two groups,” the spokesperson said.
(Reporting by Valentina Za and Cristina Carlevaro; Editing by Giulia Segreti and Keith Weir)
