Crédit Agricole and UniCredit have held talks over a potential takeover of Italian lender Banco BPM, according to Reuters.

Citing two anonymous sources, the newswire reported that the two major banks had held talks with Italian authorities to discuss a potential breakup of Banco BPM. They explained this would see UniCredit give Crédit Agricole approximately one third of the bank.

Banco BPM, Crédit Agricole and UniCredit all declined Reuters’s requests for ​comment.

Crédit Agricole is currently the largest single shareholder in Banco BPM, with a 29.3 per cent stake, as it has gradually expanded its foothold in the valuable Italian market.

This would mark the latest in a long series of moves by UniCredit to take control of Banco BPM’s operations. The Italian banking giant launched a €15 billion takeover bid in April 2025, which Banco BPM formally declined. Despite approval by the European Commission, the deal fell through with UniCredit citing regulatory uncertainty and government interference.

Crédit Agricole also played a large role in blocking the deal, increasing its stake in Banco BPM to 19.9 per cent in April 2025 and refusing to tender its shares with UniCredit.

A tie-up between the two could overcome this hurdle but would still face the scrutiny of Rome with its “golden power” ability to amend or veto deals involving strategic Italian assets.

Amid the reported talks, Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) has also submitted all-share takeover bids for Banco BPM and Banca Generali for a combined €34 billion. The world’s oldest bank launched the bids to see off Intesa Sanpaolo’s hostile €36 billion bid to take over MPS, absorb its historic brand, and sell around half of its 1,260 branches.

UniCredit is also pushing ahead with its takeover of the German lender Commerzbank, which started in March 2026. Though Commerzbank formally declined UniCredit’s €35 billion bid and in June a German government source said UniCredit’s plans are not viable, UniCredit increased its Commerzbank stake to 47.59 per cent by July.

Banco BPM was formed in 2017 after a merger of Banco Populare and Banca Populare di Milano. It is currently the third largest bank in Italy, behind Intesa and UniCredit.

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