Mediobanca interested in stake in Italian post office

The merchant bank Mediobanca SpA is interested in buying a significant stake in the state-owned post office, Poste SpA, the newspaper La Repubblica said citing financial sources.

However, the government still has to decide whether and how to privatise the post office, which is 65 pct owned by the economy ministry and 35 pct by the government-owned financial group Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

The government is studying the option of selling part of the ministry’s shares in Poste in a global offering, or breaking up the company into two, one entity containing the post office business and the other the banking operations of Bancoposta.

In the case of a breakup, the postal business could be floated or sold to Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, while the banking activity could be sold or merged, possibly with Mediolanum SpA’s unit Banca Mediolanum, it said.

But, parliamentary opposition is against a tie-up with Mediolanum, because the company is controlled by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, it added.

The government could also decide for an ‘indirect’ privatisation of Poste by selling part of its stake in Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the daily said.

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