Bper Banca is pursuing its own growth path that has already been outlined and does not contemplate any transactions with Banca Mps in the immediate future

Carlo Cimbri, chairman of Unipol, Bper's majority shareholder with a stake of nearly 20 percent, said this.

"Bper has its own growth path, has recently changed top management and has a delineated future ahead of it," Cimbri said at an event, responding to a question about a possible interest in Mps.

"There is nothing in Bper's immediate future; then the market is made of discontinuities and opportunities are created," he added.

(Elvira Pollina, reporting Andrea Mandalà, editing Gianluca Semeraro)