Italian lender Banco BPM has decided to exercise a call option to acquire the 65% interest held by insurer Cattolica Assicurazioni in the joint-ventures (JVs) Vera Vita and Vera Assicurazione for €335.7m ($408m).

The change in control comes after Generali’s acquisition of 24.4% of Cattolica. Generali said that it would become a major shareholder in Cattolica.

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Banco BPM said that the decision to terminate the insurance tie-up with Cattolica was triggered by Cattolica’s refusal to offer information on Generali’s investment despite repeated requests.

Banco BPM expects a short-term capital impact of 5-60 basis points as a result of the deal.

The bank noted: “The right to acquire a 65% stake in the share capital held by Cattolica in the joint ventures was conferred to Banco BPM by Cattolica in the shareholders’ agreement signed in March 2018 (the “Agreement”) in the event of, among other things, Cattolica’s change of control, also de facto, by an insurance company that engages in or controls (directly or indirectly) a company that among other things engages in banking activities or services in Italy.”

However, Cattolica called the move by Banco BPM “completely groundless”.

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“The position taken by BancoBPM is in any case completely groundless, from every point of view, as it is not reflected in any provision, either by law or by contract, as certified by authoritative independent legal opinions and by the guidelines expressed by the Supervisory Authorities, in particular with the provision of authorisation issued by IVASS for Generali’s entry into Cattolica’s capital,” the insurer noted.

Meanwhile, recently, a report by Reuters said that Banco BPM is reportedly looking to merge with BPER Banca.

Financial group Unipol is the top investor of BPER.

Unipol controls Italian insurance company UnipolSAI, which is eyeing Banco BPM’s distribution network.