By Giovanni Legorano 
 

ROME--Assicurazioni Generali SpA bought voting rights worth 3.01% of lender Intesa Sanpaolo SpA's share capital, the insurer said Monday, in a defensive move aimed at stopping the bank from buying a large stake in itself.

Generali's move comes after Italian newspaper La Stampa reported on Sunday that Intesa was considering an investment in the Trieste-based insurer, possibly in partnership with German insurer Allianz.

Both Intesa and Allianz declined to comment.

According to Italian regulations and under certain conditions, a listed company can't hold more than 3% in another listed company's voting rights if the latter already owns voting rights equal to more than 3% of the former company's share capital.

This means that if Intesa bought a stake in Generali larger than 3%, the voting rights corresponding to the exceeding capital would be frozen. In addition, Intesa would have to sell the exceeding shares within twelve months.

Intesa could avoid these restrictions if it launched a takeover bid for at least 60% of Generali's capital.

Shares in Generali soared on Monday, ending up 4% after having gained around 7% during the day. Generali said after markets closed that it acquired the voting rights in Intesa via a securities lending transaction,

Analysts showed skepticism about Intesa's potential investment in Generali.

"We see the deal as very complex from a regulatory standpoint," given that the merged entity would assemble both banking and insurance activities, Mediobanca Securities' analysts wrote.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2017 15:33 ET (20:33 GMT)