History
Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI, the two banks that merged in 2007 to create Intesa Sanpaolo, were themselves the product of many mergers. Cariplo and Banco Ambrosiano Veneto merged in 1998 to form Banca Intesa. The following year Banca Commerciale Italiana joined the group. Sanpaolo IMI was born in 1998 following the merger of Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, which specialized in retail banking, and IMI (Istituto Mobiliare Italiano), an investment bank.
The oldest part of the banking group is Cariplo spa which traces its roots to Austrian household savings bank Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde which was established in 1823. Cassa di Risparmio was started by an Italian philanthropic group, the Central Committee of Charity; a response by the government to the hard economic times of the early 19th century. In the early 20th century the bank helped Italian companies in the North obtain capital during and after World War 1 and 2. Banking reforms in 1990 started by Giuliano Amato (Amato Law) led to the restructuring/reorganization of banks by forcing the government to relinquish control of them (the result was a more market driven bank that focussed less on social programs/social causes were abandoned).
Cariplo spa was formed in 1991 when Cassa di Risparmio (sold by Ente Cassa Di Risparmio) merged with IBI. Banco Ambrosiano originated with Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano and Banca Cattolica del Veneto which merged in 1989. The bank increased in size during the 1990s due to numerous acquisitions (Citibank Italia, Banca Vallone di Galatina and European securities dealer Caboto among others).
Banca Commerciale Italiana (BCI) started in 1894 as a corporate loans lender operating in the commercial industry of Northern Italy. In 1994 Mediobanca purchased an interest in BCI (ironically BCI was one of the 3 banks that formed Mediobanca almost 50 years earlier). BCI tried to acquire Banco Ambrosiano Veneto the same year but was spurned by shareholders who wouldn't accept the US$1.13 billion offer. In 1999 Italy's largest bank Unicredit Group attempted a hostile takeover of BCI but failed due to Mediobanca's interest in the company (Mediobanca wanted to merge Banca di Roma with BCI) BCI merged with the former Banca Ambrosiano and Cariplo in 1998 to form a financial institution renamed Banca Intesa in 2003.
In January 2007 all of these banking entities came together when 2 of Italy's 3 largest banks officially merged (was announced in 2006). Banca Intesa (the result of a 1997 merger of Cariplo and Banco Ambrosiano) acquired Sanpaolo IMI (Sanpaolo was formed in 1998 when Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino and Istituto Mobiliare Italiano (IMI) merged, IMI was established in 1931) in a US 37.8 billion dollar deal.
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