Dutch banking giant ING is considering making a takeover bid for Banca Popolare di Sondrio, reports Italian newspaper La Stampa.
According to the daily paper, the Dutch bank has hired legal and financial advisors to evaluate an offer.
Banca Popolare di Sondrio has already received a buyout offer from its major competitor BPER.
On Friday, Carlo Cimbri, President of Unipol – the Italian insurance group and main shareholder of both Sondrio and BPER – stated that a foreign bank was contemplating an offer.
He hinted that the potential bidder's tie colour matched "the colour of a journalist's tie," which was orange.
When approached by financial news agency Bloomberg, an ING spokesperson declined to comment.
Last month, Sondrio rejected BPER's offer, considering it too low.
The bid consisted entirely of shares and totalled €4.3 billion.
