Italian Banking M&A Wave Is Sweeping UniCredit to Mediobanca

Italian finance has been in turmoil since late last year, with one new deal proposal chasing the next almost on a monthly basis.

Domestic consolidation has increasingly taken center stage. Mediobanca SpA’s April 28 offer for the wealth management arm of Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali SpA is the latest move by a lender looking to protect its position in the fragmented market.

Amid all those bids, wars of words between parties, pushback from unions and politicians weighing in, what’s striking is that some of the same names appear at different negotiating tables.

Here’s a summary of the deal ...