UniCredit said Wednesday that Italian stock market regulator CONSOB has given it the green light to make a offer to buy out fellow Italian lender Banco BPM, adding that the operation will begin on April 28 and run until June 23.
    Banco BPM has said the takeover bid is hostile.
    French bank Credit Agricole, meanwhile, said Wednesday that it has been authorized by the European Central Bank to raise its stake in BPM to up 19.9%.
    It said it intends to take its stake to 9.8% but will not launch a takeover bid of its own.
    Credit Agricole bought 9.2% of BPM in 2022 after a previous attempt by UniCredit to take it over.

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