“We are not here to manage the bank. We are here to appoint a Board which is worthy its name, give it external support in order to allow it to restructure the bank as soon as possibile, find a partner and exit our investment within 18-24 months”, Quaestio Capital Management sgr‘s ceo, Alessandro Penati said last Saturday June 3rd in Trento at the International Festival of Economy (see here Il giornale di Vicenza).
Mr. Penati was speaking about the stake 99.33% stake in the capital of Banca Popolare di Vicenza owned by Atlante fund (managed by Quaestio capital Management sgr, see here a previous post by BeBeez).
Mr. Penati confirmed then market rumors about talks between Atlante fund and some US private equity firms such as Warburg Pincus, Atlas, Centerbridge and Baupost. Other firms working at the dossier are said to be Oaktree, JC Flowers and Italy’s Investindustrial.
“A surprise might come before year end” with “a partial cash out thanks to a partner”, Mr. Penati added. Quaestio Capital Management sgr actually does not have a private equity team as it is structured as an open end funds asset manager.
Atlante fund has been subscribed by all Italy’s major banks and will invest 70% of its holdings in Italian distressed banks’ capital increases and the remaining 30% in non performing loans on the books of Italian banks.
