Sanpaolo Imi Not short-changed

Some Sanpaolo Imi shareholders think they have been short-changed by Banca Intesa in the Italian banking mega-merger. Banco Santander, Sanpaolo’s second-biggest shareholder, has said so publicly. Some of the Italian bank’s other investors have apparently been muttering too. The snag is that they don’t have a very strong case. Sure, one can sympathise with some of their arguments. Sanpaolo seems to have ceded control to Intesa without payment of a premium if the management line-up of the combine...