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Bipop eyes online bank
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June 26, 2000: 11:03 a.m. ET
Italian bank may offer $2.4B for German Net bank; shares suspended
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Italian bank Bipop-Carrire SpA said Monday it was in talks to acquire a majority stake in German online bank and brokerage Entrium Direct Bankers AG, prompting the suspension of both companies' shares.
Italian media reports said Bipop-Carrire was offering cash and stock to buy control of Entrium from its current owner, the Schickedanz family.
Bipop-Carrire is Italy's fifth-largest bank by market value and has looked to expand its online business overseas, signing up partners in Spain and Portugal,
Entrium listed its shares on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt for growth stocks last September, selling shares at  16.50. They have soared almost fourfold since the start of the year, and were suspended at 57.99, valuing the company at 2.09 billion ($1.95 billion).
Italian media reports suggested that Bipop-Carrire was prepared to offer around 2.6 billion in cash and stock, a premium of around 24 percent.
Bipop shares were suspended at 9.115 in Milan, having fallen sharply from their year-to-date high above 12.
The Schickedanz family started the bank to support its Quelle mail order retail business before it was converted into an online bank and brokerage, now ranking among Germany's top five.
Entrium reported revenue of 9.7 billion German marks ($2.4 billion) in 1999.
Germany's online brokerage industry is among the most developed in Europe, with Commerzbank AG's Comdirect Bank AG unit ranking as Europe's largest. 
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Bipop-Carrire
Entrium
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