Banca CR Firenze

Banca Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze S.p.A.

Company type	Società per azioni
Industry	Banking
Founded	March 30, 1829 (1829-03-30) in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Defunct	2018
Fate	Integrated into Intesa Sanpaolo
Headquarters	Florence , Italy
Area served	Italy, Romania (formerly)
Products	Savings bank services
Parent	Intesa Sanpaolo (since 2007)

Banca Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze S.p.A. (commonly known as Banca CR Firenze) was an Italian savings bank and a previously publicly traded entity, which has been integrated into Intesa Sanpaolo since 2007.

History

The institution originally named Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze (Saving Bank of Florence) was established on 30 March 1829, serving as the principal savings bank within the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Some regional banks, such as San Miniato, later gained autonomy following their creation.

Casse Toscane

In 1992, pursuant to Legge Amato, the bank's operational activities were separated from its ownership structure by creating a società per azioni alongside the banking foundation known as Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze. That same year, the bank initiated the holding company Casse Toscane, which consolidated Florence, Livorno, Pisa, Pistoia–Pescia, San Miniato, and Banca del Monte di Lucca, with Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze holding the largest ownership share.

Following 1996, only Florence, Pistoia–Pescia, and San Miniato remained part of this holding company, as the other banks formed a separate entity called Casse del Tirreno. By 1998, ownership of Pistoia–Pescia and San Miniato was transferred back to their respective foundations; nevertheless, in 1999 Florence acquired a 51% stake in Pistoia–Pescia.

During the late 1990s, Banca CR Firenze expanded its portfolio by securing majority ownership in both Civitavecchia (51%) and Orvieto (51.575%) by the year 2000.

Listed company

In November 1999, the banking foundation sold a portion of its shares to Sanpaolo IMI and BNP Paribas. The following year, the bank debuted on the Borsa Italiana stock exchange, with the foundation retaining a 50% stake. At the close of 2000, Ente CR Firenze held 43.18%, Sanpaolo IMI owned 19.09%, BNP Paribas controlled 6.99%, the foundation of Pistoia & Pescia (Ente) had 3.95%, while both Banca Carige and Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo each possessed 0.82%, and public investors accounted for 25.15%. Additionally, Ente CR Firenze owned 2.57% of Sanpaolo IMI shares, resulting in an approximate combined direct and indirect interest in Banca CR Firenze of 43.67%, albeit without voting privileges.

In 2000, the group acquired control over Cassa di Risparmio di Mirandola, achieving nearly complete ownership (99.962%) by 2005. By June 2001, it had purchased a minority interest in Cassa dei Risparmi di Forlì, which increased to 12.75% by December 2005. August of that year saw the incorporation of Credito Fondiario Toscano into the group, while in December the stake in Findomestic Banca was raised from 35% to half ownership.

In 2003, Banca CR Firenze acquired Cassa di Risparmio della Spezia (Carispezia) from both Banca Intesa and its foundation (Fondazione Carispezia) through a combination of cash payment and share exchange. By 2006, ownership had risen to 80%.

In March 2006, the group expanded internationally by purchasing Romanian lender Banca Daewoo S.A., which was subsequently rebranded as Banca CR Firenze Romania S.A., while also merging Mirandola operations into Banca CR Firenze proper.

Privatization under Intesa Sanpaolo

In July 2007, Intesa Sanpaolo completed the acquisition of the group. Prior to the completion in 2008, ownership was distributed as follows: the ente held 41.925%, Intesa Sanpaolo controlled 18.570%, BNP Paribas had 6.547%, Fondazione Carispezia owned 3.909%, the Foundation of Pistoia & Pescia held 3.680%, and Società Finanziaria di Banche Romagnole possessed 1.088%, with public shareholders accounting for approximately 24.281%. Following the merger, the ente became Intesa Sanpaolo’s seventh-largest shareholder with a 3.378% stake, based on an exchange ratio of 1.194 Intesa Sanpaolo shares per Banca CR Firenze share, while Intesa Sanpaolo acquired control of 89.71% of Banca CR Firenze. Consequently, the ente indirectly maintained about a 13.3% interest but without voting rights.

The integration led to asset disposals: in 2009, CR Orvieto along with four former branches were sold to Banca Popolare di Bari, and between 2009 and 2011, Findomestic Bank was transferred to BNP Paribas.

Intesa Casse del Centro, which was previously held directly by Intesa Sanpaolo at 96.07%, was sold to Banca CR Firenze, which provided access to savings banks located in Viterbo, Ascoli, Città di Castello, Spoleto, Rieti, Foligno, Terni, and Narni across Umbria, Lazio, and Marche regions. Subsequently, the intermediate holding company Casse del Centro was liquidated.

In 2010, Intesa Sanpaolo divested certain assets to the French banking group Crédit Agricole, transferring Carispezia and eleven former Banca CR Firenze branches to Crédit Agricole’s Italian subsidiary Cariparma.

By 2012, restructuring of local savings banks was carried out through branch transfers between Banca CR Firenze and Intesa Sanpaolo. On November 26, the subsidiary Casse di Risparmio dell'Umbria was established by merging the Foligno, Città di Castello, Terni e Narni, and Spoleto savings banks; CR Spoleto was subsequently renamed CR Umbria.

On July 23, 2012, CR Pistoia e Pescia adopted the new name Cassa di Risparmio di Pistoia e della Lucchesia. On November 12 of the same year, Ascoli Piceno was reacquired by Intesa Sanpaolo after Banca CR Firenze obtained full ownership. Additionally, on October 1, Banca CR Firenze Romania merged with Banca Comercialà Intesa Sanpaolo Romania, resulting in an immediate stake of 8.18% held by Banca CR Firenze.

In 2015, subsidiaries CR Viterbo, Rieti, and Civitavecchia were liquidated; their shares were exchanged for those of Intesa Sanpaolo. The Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze exercised a put option to sell its minority interest (10.26%) in the bank to Intesa Sanpaolo for €182.5 million, reducing its direct holding in Intesa Sanpaolo to approximately 2%, while maintaining an equivalent indirect stake in Banca CR Firenze.

Later that year in November, Casse dell'Umbria was sold back to the parent company through a share capital reduction executed at Banca CR Firenze.

Current wholly owned subsidiaries

As of 31 December 2015, the company held full ownership stakes in the following entities:

• Cassa di Risparmio di Pistoia e della Lucchesia, located in the Tuscany region, with a 74.88% share
• Infogroup S.c.p.A., based in Florence, possessing a 65.45% interest

See also

• Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca Pisa Livorno