Italy’s BPER Banca has agreed to buy the banking unit of its top shareholder Unipol for €220m ($249m) in cash. This operation will enable the BPER Group to increase its size and customer base, with the aim of creating value for stakeholders, while maintaining a solid level of regulatory capital and accelerating the process of reducing impaired loans. The sale allows Unipol, which controls Italy’s second-biggest insurer UnipolSai, to pull out of direct management of a small bank “to take on the role of long-term stable investor” in one of the country’s main banking groups. Unipol holds a 15% stake in 258-branches strong BPER Banca.