BPER Banca Explores Possibility of Issuing AT1 Bonds

By Miriam Mukuru

Italian bank BPER Banca is looking into issuing Additional Tier 1 bonds, it said on Monday.
The bank said it gave a mandate to Deutsche Bank, IMI-Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediobanca, Morgan Stanley and UBS as joint bookrunners to explore potential interest of institutional investors.

The bank picked Barclays as the sole structuring advisor, global coordinator as well as joint bookrunner, it said.
AT1 bonds are a risky form of debt issued by banks to meet regulatory capital requirements.
BPER follows European banks Credit Agricole and CaixaBank, which offered EUR1.25 billion and EUR750 million, respectively, in AT1 bonds last week, the first banks to enter the European primary AT1 bond market in 2024.
Write to Miriam Mukuru at miriam.mukuru@wsj.com