The board of directors of Delfin, the Del Vecchio family’s holding company, would have leaned towards supporting the public purchase and exchange offer launched by Intesa Sanpaolo on Monte dei Paschi di Siena. This is reported by financial press sources, according to which the holding company would commit to joining the operation with its own stake, equal to 17.6% of the Sienese bank’s capital.

Delfin’s possible participation would carry a specific weight greater than that of the percentage held alone: the holding company is the main private shareholder of Mps after the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and a yes from it would signal to the other shareholders the direction taken by the operation. Until now, the outcome of the Opas launched by Intesa remained tied to the choices of Monte’s major reference shareholders, as well as that of the Treasury, which in recent years has progressively reduced its stake in the Sienese bank without exiting entirely.

The operation is part of a reorganisation process in the Italian banking sector that has been underway for months, with Intesa Sanpaolo in the role of acquirer and Mps as the subject of the offer. Participation by the Del Vecchio family’s holding company, if confirmed in the next stages of the operation, would significantly reduce the area of uncertainty surrounding the final outcome of the exchange, shifting attention to the moves of Monte’s other institutional shareholders.

At present, the information is circulating through the financial press and has not been confirmed by official statements from the two companies involved. The picture therefore remains provisional: a possible formal decision by Delfin’s board, if and when made public, would be the step that would transform the reported orientation into a definitive and binding position for the purposes of the offer.

For the Italian banking market, accustomed in recent years to aggregation operations between credit institutions, the outcome of the Intesa-Mps Opas represents one of the most closely followed dossiers in the sector. Delfin’s stake, built up over the years by the Del Vecchio family through diversified investments that also include the banking sector, has repeatedly drawn the attention of analysts precisely because of its possible role as the tipping point in sectoral consolidation operations.