Banco BPM Warns UniCredit Deal Could Put 6,000 Jobs at Risk (1)

Banco BPM SpA Chief Executive Officer Giuseppe Castagna warned employees that almost a third of them may be at risk of losing their jobs if the lender gets bought by its larger domestic rival UniCredit SpA.

The expected cost savings that UniCredit announced when it unveiled an unsolicited takeover bid for Banco BPM two days ago “can be estimated to mean staff cuts of over 6,000 colleagues,” Castagna said in a letter sent to employees on Wednesday that was seen by Bloomberg. That prospect is a matter of “great concern,” he said.

Giuseppe Castagna

Photographer: Vincenzo Lombardo/AC Milan/Getty Images

Banco BPM has roughly 20,000 employees. ...