ROME (Reuters) -An Italian court on Thursday rejected an appeal by Banco BPM which had challenged the suspension of a takeover offer it faces by rival UniCredit, the court's website showed.
UniCredit secured a one-month suspension of its offer for BPM by the country's markets regulator after the bid ran into difficulties due to government-set conditions. UniCredit has challenged the conditions in court.
Following the suspension, the offer is now due to end on July 23 instead of June 23, eight months after it was first announced.
BPM had sought to have the suspension scrapped, saying it limited the bank's decision-making abilities and damaged its shareholders.
Italian takeover rules hinder any actions by a bid's target that could hamper the proposed takeover, unless shareholders clear those decisions first.
That has forced Banco BPM to seek shareholder approval before improving its bid for fund manager Anima Holding, which it had been it the process of buying before UniCredit's move.
Under normal circumstances, the decision to sweeten the bid would have lied with the bank's board.
Banco BPM Chairman Massimo Tononi and CEO Giuseppe Castagna said in a joint statement that the court ruling did not change the broader picture of an offer that remained "uncertain" and "unattractive" to shareholders.
BPM's share price trades above the UniCredit offer's value, indicating investors expect an improvement.
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel on Wednesday estimated at 20% at best the chances of the BPM acquisition going through, blaming the conditions Italy has set to authorise the deal.
UniCredit has said the conditions are formulated in unclear terms, and the lack of clarity on what could represent a violation exposes the bank to the risk of huge fines.
The Rome court in charge of the BPM's decision will rule on July 9 on UniCredit's appeal against the government-imposed conditions.
(Reporting by Valentina Za and Andrea Mandalà, editing by Gavin Jones)
By Andrea Mandala and Valentina Za
