Aabar Investments buys 4.99 per cent stake in Italy’s UniCredit worth $2.48 billion
25 Jun 2010
Aabar Investments PJSC, the investment company owned by the emirate of Abu Dhabi, yesterday acquired a 4.99 per cent stake in Italy's largest bank UniCredit, worth an estimated $2.48 billion, becoming the Milan-based bank's second-largest shareholder.
Aabar Investment, which is also the largest shareholder in German luxury-carmaker Daimler AG, yesterday said that its wholly owned subsidiary Aabar Luxembourg S.a.r.l. acquired a 4.99 per cent stake in UniCredit SpA, without revealing how much it paid for the stake.
UniCredit, which was the outcome of the 1988 merger of seven Italian banks, is a leading European bank employing165,000 people having more than 40 million customers in over 9,800 branches in 22 countries
With 2009 revenues of €27.57 billion and net profit of €1.702 billion, UniCredit Group benefits from a strong European identity with Italy, Austria and southern Germany forming its core markets.
It also has substantial operations in central & eastern Europe and has investment banking divisions in Munich and Frankfurt.
Although Aabar Investments did not reveal the financial terms of the investment, but based on 23 June closing price, the Abu Dhabi-based investment company has paid around $2.48 billion.
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