DealBook: UniCredit’s 0nline Unit Raises at Least $916 Million in 1.P.0.

LONDON – FinecoBank, an online banking and brokerage arm of the Italian lender UniCredit, said on Friday that it had raised at least 673 million euros, or about $916 million, in its initial public offering in Italy.

FinecoBank priced its offering of 181.9 million shares at €3.70 a share, on the low end of its expected range of €3.50 to €4.40 a share. The pricing values the company at €2.24 billion, or about $3.05 billion.

Trading of FinecoBank's shares on the Borsa Italiana's Mercato Telematico Azionario is expected to begin on Wednesday.

The I.P.O. represents about 30 percent of FinecoBank's share capital. UniCredit will maintain a majority stake and control of the online lender following the offering.

FinecoBank, with more than 900,000 customers and €45.6 billion in assets, acts a separate business from UniCredit, and offers banking, online trading and wealth management services. The company, founded in 1999, has about 2,500 financial advisers and 967 employees.

If an overallotment of shares is fully exercised, FinecoBank could raise as much as €774 million in the offering. The proceeds will be used to boost UniCredit's capital reserves.

UniCredit and other Italian banks are working to bolster their capital ahead of a review by the European Central Bank later this year of the quality of assets held by European lenders.

The offering also comes as investors are becoming more comfortable with the outlook for Southern European economies. As Italy's largest bank, UniCredit tends to be a bellwether for Italy's economy.

UniCredit swung to a profit in the first quarter this year after its backlog of poorly performing loans declined. The bank had reported for the fourth quarter a €15 billion loss as it recognized the declining value of certain holdings in Italy, Austria and Eastern Europe and set aside an additional €7.2 billion to cover losses from problem loans.

UBS, UniCredit and Mediobanca acted as joint bookrunners on the offering. The legal advisers for FinecoBank were Bonelli Erede Pappalardo and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Linklaters advised the bookrunners.

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