The European Central Bank (ECB)
and the Bank of Italy have authorized Quaestio Capital
Management SGR to take a stake of over 50% in struggling Banca
Popolare di Vicenza, the private fund manager said in a
statement Tuesday.
Qaestio manages Italy's new Atlante fund, which was set up
to help weaker lenders increase their capital and get
non-performing loans (NPLs) off their books.
Last week it received authorization from CONSOB stock
market regulator to sell shares in Atlante.
In a statement, Quaestio said that it was close to
"crossing the minimum threshold of collecting four billion euros
as per the fund's regulation".
The first major test for Atlante is the capital increase
that Banca Popolare di Vicenza has launched to fill a capital
shortfall signalled by the ECB.
CONSOB said last Thursday it will allow the
struggling bank to trade its shares in a 1.76-billion-euro
initial offer. Atlante is sub-underwriting the operation up to a
maximum of 1.5 billion euros.
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