Sanpaolo Marriage of convenience

Italy’s Sanpaolo IMI is under pressure to find itself a bride. In just over a year, the shareholder pact which prevents Santander, its second-largest shareholder, from snapping it up will expire. Indeed, the acquisitive E76bn Spanish bank might even be able to take a pot shot sooner, if a third party made a bid. But Sanpaolo doesn’t have a great deal-making record. Remember Dexia, the Belgian bank with which it planned a widely disparaged merger in 2004? This time around, the group shouldn’t be...