(Bloomberg) -- Italian construction tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone has raised his stake in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA just a month after buying a major holding in the lender.
Caltagirone now owns 5.026% in Monte Paschi, up from 3.644% previously, according to a regulatory filing late Tuesday. That puts him just ahead of another Italian lender, Banco BPM SpA.
Monte Paschi is being privatized by the Italian government and a placement of shares last month saw Caltagirone buy a stake, along with the Del Vecchio clan, Banco BPM and Anima Holding SpA.
That deal came together through an active role by the Italian government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Bloomberg has reported. The goal was to set the stage for the creation of a third large banking group in Italy.
Caltagirone has long been an active investor in Italian financial services companies, frequently teaming up with the late eyewear tycoon Leonardo Del Vecchio. That happened in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to replace Generali Chief Executive Officer Philippe Donnet and when Caltagirone supported a minority list of board candidates presented by Del Vecchio’s holding company Delfin Sarl at Mediobanca.
Tuesday’s regulatory filing showed that Barclays has built up a position in Monte Paschi as well, including through derivatives.
“We trade in shares of listed companies in response to client instruction or demand and that may result in us holding shares,” Barclays said in a statement to Bloomberg. “We are not making investments for Barclays and Barclays is not a ‘shareholder’ or ‘investor’ in that sense in relation to this company.”
(Updates with Barclays statement in final paragraph.)
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