UBI shares fall ahead of €1bn rights issue
SHARES in Italian lender Unione di Banche Italiane (UBI) slumped perilously close to the subscription price for its €1bn (£885m) rights issue, threatening to leave underwriters on the deal with millions of euros of unpurchased stock.
The regional bank’s share price closed down 5.1 per cent on the Borsa Italiana yesterday at €3.82 per unit, marginally above the €3.81 subscription price set for the deal.
The rights issue is due to close today, although investors who have not yet committed to buying stock would be left without an incentive to purchase shares from underwriters Morgan Stanley, Italian lender Mediobanca and Centrobanca, which is part of UBI.
However, many investors may already have placed orders earlier in the process, after the rights issue process began about a month ago.
Meanwhile, the Italian financial market came a step closer to its first successful initial public offering (IPO) of the year, after it emerged that shoemaker Ferragamo’s share offer was oversubscribed, with 3.6 times more demand than there were available shares. The interest in the firm has led bankers on the deal to increase its proposed listing price to €9 per share, with the books due to close last night.