Italian job

Rijkman Groenink hasn’t made a strong enough case for seizing control of Italy’s Banca Antonveneta. The market value of ABN Amro, which he runs, has shed E3.6bn since his interest in the deal emerged last month. That’s more than half the E6.3bn in cash he plans to splash out. It’s easy to see why ABN stock has been hit – but not why it has been so heavily clobbered. ABN already owns 13% of Antonveneta. To buy the rest, Groenink is offering to pay a 30% premium over its average stock price since...