Monte dei Paschi vote clears way for Intesa takeover

Shareholders of Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena rejected management's attempt to fend off an offer from Intesa Sanpaolo, opening the way to a takeover that would create a major European banking group.

MPS chief executive Luigi Lovaglio had proposed a counter-offensive involving offers for Banco BPM and Banca Generali, but shareholders voted down the plan on Thursday.

Intesa raised its offer in October to 31 billion euros, or $34 billion, and had warned MPS shareholders it would withdraw its bid if they approved the counterproposal. Most of MPS's largest shareholders had already said they would oppose Lovaglio's plan.

The European Central Bank has already approved Intesa's offer.

Mario Comana, an economics professor at Luiss University in Rome, said the deal reflected a longer-term concentration trend in Italian banking, with Intesa focused more on the domestic market while UniCredit has expanded internationally.