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# Crédit Agricole Proposes Combining Its Italian Bank With Banco BPM
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/credit-agricole-proposes-combining-its-italian-bank-with-banco-bpm/
- Published: 2026-11-09T07:11:27.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-09T07:11:27.000Z
- Description: Crédit Agricole has proposed merging its Italian banking unit with Banco BPM. The plan would raise its stake to about 45% and provide a €1 billion special dividend, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Business

Crédit Agricole said Monday it had proposed merging its Italian banking business with Banco BPM, a combination the French lender says would create Italy’s third-largest banking group. The [proposal](https://crweworld.com/article/news-provided-by-globenewswire/3948404/credit-agricole-sa-credit-agricole-proposes-to-banco-bpm-to-create-together-a-new-leading-italian-bank?ref=theamericanquorum.com) would lift Crédit Agricole’s stake from 29.6% of Banco BPM to about 45% of the combined company and provide a €1 billion special dividend for Banco BPM’s existing shareholders.

The proposal was submitted to Banco BPM’s board for evaluation. It calls for talks rather than announcing an agreement between the banks, and it would leave the combined lender listed in Milan. [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/credit-agricole-pitches-tie-up-italian-subsidiary-banco-bpm-2026-11-09/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported that Crédit Agricole envisages completion in the second half of 2027\. That timing is the proposer’s estimate, contingent on the banks agreeing on a transaction and securing the necessary approvals.

## A larger stake through a contribution of businesses

Crédit Agricole would contribute its Italian banking operations, and the combined group would also receive its Italian life and non-life insurance businesses under the [proposed terms](https://crweworld.com/article/news-provided-by-globenewswire/3948404/credit-agricole-sa-credit-agricole-proposes-to-banco-bpm-to-create-together-a-new-leading-italian-bank?ref=theamericanquorum.com). Banco BPM would provide the listed company around which the group would be built. The French bank’s larger ownership share would come from contributing those businesses in the merger, rather than through a proposed offer to buy every Banco BPM share for cash.

The stake would mark a further step in a relationship Crédit Agricole has built over time. In a [prior disclosure](https://presse.credit-agricole.com/strongcredit-agricole-detient-desormais-293-du-capital-de-banco-bpmstrong-482141/?lang=eng&ref=theamericanquorum.com), it said it had reached 29.3% of Banco BPM through market purchases and a derivative instrument, pointing to existing partnerships in consumer finance and insurance. Monday’s proposal uses the more recent figure of 29.6% as its starting point. Moving to roughly 45% would give the French lender a substantially larger interest while leaving other shareholders with a majority of the shares in aggregate.

## What the premium and dividend would mean

The proposal puts two separate elements in front of Banco BPM shareholders: an exchange ratio that Crédit Agricole says reflects a 20% valuation premium and a special dividend totaling €1 billion for existing shareholders. As [Investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/credit-agricole-proposes-banco-bpm-merger-20-premium-and-1-bln-dividend-5010541?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported, the premium reflects the relative valuation of Banco BPM against the estimated 2027 earnings multiple used for the contributed businesses. It is therefore a feature of the proposed exchange terms, rather than a promise to buy each share at 20% above its most recent trading price.

The [Journal](https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/credit-agricole-proposes-merger-of-italian-business-with-banco-bpm-d77044a4?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported that Crédit Agricole expects roughly €800 million a year in benefits from combining the businesses. That figure is a projection from the bank proposing the deal. Its significance depends on what the banks could actually combine or operate more efficiently and how quickly they could do so. An annual estimate also differs from the cash cost of putting the businesses together. Shareholders would need details on both to judge whether the projected benefits justify the terms. Until there is a negotiated agreement, the dividend, exchange terms and estimates describe the French lender’s pitch, rather than cash or gains already delivered to shareholders.

## Shareholders and regulators would have a say

Crédit Agricole’s [announcement](https://crweworld.com/article/news-provided-by-globenewswire/3948404/credit-agricole-sa-credit-agricole-proposes-to-banco-bpm-to-create-together-a-new-leading-italian-bank?ref=theamericanquorum.com) says the transaction would need approval at an extraordinary Banco BPM shareholder meeting under a procedure that could exempt the French lender from having to make a mandatory tender offer. [Investing.com](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/credit-agricole-proposes-banco-bpm-merger-20-premium-and-1-bln-dividend-5010541?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported that the merger would need backing from at least two-thirds of the capital represented at the meeting and that the exemption also turns on the position of shareholders outside the proposer and certain other large holders. In practical terms, the existing stake alone cannot deliver the exemption.

The proposed transaction would also need regulatory authorizations, including from the European Central Bank and under Italy’s government review regime, according to the [announcement](https://crweworld.com/article/news-provided-by-globenewswire/3948404/credit-agricole-sa-credit-agricole-proposes-to-banco-bpm-to-create-together-a-new-leading-italian-bank?ref=theamericanquorum.com). Under the governance plan outlined by Crédit Agricole, Banco BPM Chief Executive Giuseppe Castagna would lead the enlarged company and independent directors would remain a majority on its board. Those are proposed arrangements; they do not tell shareholders what conditions authorities might impose or what Banco BPM’s board might seek in negotiations.

## A new approach to Italian bank consolidation

Crédit Agricole estimates the combined lender would serve 6.5 million customers through more than 2,300 branches, figures also reported by the [Journal](https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/credit-agricole-proposes-merger-of-italian-business-with-banco-bpm-d77044a4?ref=theamericanquorum.com). Its plan follows a different attempt to combine Banco BPM with another lender. Italy’s [competition authority](https://www.agcm.it/competenze/tutela-della-concorrenza/operazioni-di-concentrazione/avvisi-al-mercato/lista-avvisi-al-mercato/dettaglio?id=9a33c9a9-d723-4401-bec2-3762307b1783&ref=theamericanquorum.com) documented a proposed exchange offer by Monte dei Paschi di Siena for Banco BPM. [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/credit-agricole-pitches-tie-up-italian-subsidiary-banco-bpm-2026-11-09/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported that Castagna raised the prospect of a new transaction with the French bank last week after Monte dei Paschi shareholders rejected a plan centered on acquiring Banco BPM.

The difference is that the new proposal would preserve Banco BPM as the listed company and bring Crédit Agricole’s Italian operations into it. The next evidence of progress will be whether Banco BPM’s board agrees to negotiate and whether the banks can settle the terms they would put before shareholders. The possible scale of the resulting bank explains the stakes in those decisions. Monday’s announcement establishes that Crédit Agricole wants talks, while the ownership change and special payout remain conditional.