UniCredit Said to Plan to Set Rights Offering Terms Tomorrow

UniCredit SpA (UCG)’s board plans to set the terms of the Italian lender’s 7.5 billion-euro ($9.8 billion) rights offering at a meeting tomorrow, said two people with knowledge of the discussions.

The underwriters managing the offering are meeting to agree on the final details, said the people, who declined to be identified, because the plans are private. An announcement may be made before the market opens tomorrow, the people said.

UniCredit is raising the money to plug a capital shortfall and comply with the European Banking Authority’s targets. The Milan-based bank, whose market value has more than halved to 12.2 billion euros in the past year, is selling shares after Italy’s Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl failed to get orders for all the stock on sale in its November offering.

The stock fell 2.5 percent to 6.33 euros in Milan trading today. The shares have declined about 18 percent since the lender announced the offering on Nov. 14. Officials at the bank declined to comment.

To contact the reporters on this story: Sonia Sirletti in Milan at ssirletti@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Edward Evans at eevans3@bloomberg.net