What Banca Akros does

Banca Akros S.p.A. is the Corporate & Investment Banking division of Gruppo Banco BPM, Italy's third-largest banking group, headquartered in Milan. Founded in 1997, the firm operates as a privately held subsidiary providing a full-service investment banking platform spanning M&A advisory (corporate and financial institutions), Equity Capital Markets (IPOs, capital increases, secondary offerings), Debt Capital Markets (bond issuance and placement), and Securitisation & Structured Solutions (60+ operations, €45B+ cumulative volume, €16B+ NPE disposals). It also runs secondary-market activities including equity and fixed income market making, listed derivatives brokerage (leadership on IDEM, EUREX), certificate issuance (one of Italy's leading issuers, ACEPI member since 2006), and equity research covering approximately 120 Italian listed companies (full FTSE MIB plus mid/small caps) extended to 370 European companies via the ESN partnership co-founded in 2002.

The technology backbone consists of proprietary MiFID II/MiFIR-compliant platforms: SABE (Sistema Automatico di Best Execution, launched 2007) for bonds and extended to equities (SABEequity) and ETFs/ETPs (SABEetf, 2018), and AKIS (Internalizzatore Sistematico, 2010), a systematic internalizer for guaranteed-capital bonds. Cross-border M&A capabilities were added in May 2021 through the acquisition of Oaklins Italy S.r.l., providing access to 900+ professionals across 45+ countries.

Revenue is generated through transaction fees on investment banking mandates, market making and brokerage spreads, certificate issuance margins, and product distribution fees. Services are sold via direct field sales (Corporate Sales, Institutional Sales, Cross Asset Products & Solutions teams) and distributed through the Banco BPM branch network, targeting Italian mid-cap corporates, listed companies, and financial institutions including banks, insurance companies, asset managers, and pension funds. Pricing is transaction-based and negotiated per engagement with no public fee schedule.

Name

Banca Akros

Legal name

Banca Akros S.p.A.

Website

https://bancaakros.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Banca Akros is the Corporate & Investment Banking arm of Gruppo Banco BPM, providing M&A advisory, ECM, DCM, securitisation, market making, brokerage, and equity research to Italian mid-cap corporates, listed companies, and financial institutions, distributed partly through the parent group's retail branch network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investment Banking

NAICS

Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)

akta.pro primary industry

Capital Markets Advisory (IPO Readiness, SPAC, ECM/DCM Advisory) (BPAHAOAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Equity Capital Markets Advisory (Equity Issuance Strategy & Readiness) (FSACAAAI)

Keywords

• Investment banking services
• Capital markets advisory
• Equity research
• Fixed income trading
• Securitisation structured finance

Headquarters

HQ city

Milano

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Investment Banking Fees: Advisory fees for M&A, ECM, DCM, and securitisation transactions. Services are entirely tailor-made project-based engagements. Revenue earned on transaction completion, typically a percentage of deal value.
2. Market Making & Brokerage: Revenue from market making activities on government bonds, corporate bonds, financial institution bonds, equity derivatives, and ETFs across Italian and international regulated markets and OTC. Includes Primary Market Maker role on IDEM and Market Maker on EUREX.
3. Certificate Issuance: Structuring and issuance of investment certificates (certificates of investment) since 2006 in collaboration with Banco BPM, targeting retail, professional and institutional clients. Revenue from issuance spread and trading margins.
4. Distribution Fees: Fees from distributing investment products (bonds, funds, insurance policies) through the Banco BPM branch network and Banca Aletti network.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Banca Akros is the Corporate & Investment Bank of Gruppo Banco BPM, providing integrated investment banking, capital markets, fixed income and equity trading, and structured finance services to mid-sized corporates, listed companies, financial institutions and professional investors in Italy and across Europe. Its offering spans M&A advisory, equity and debt capital markets, securitisation, market making across Italian and international venues, certificates issuance, and equity research, supported by proprietary execution technology including the SABE best-execution engines and the AKIS systematic internaliser.

Product overview

Banca Akros is the investment banking division of Gruppo Banco BPM, offering a comprehensive platform of financial services through distinct product lines: Investment Banking (Corporate Finance M&A, Equity Capital Markets, Debt Capital Markets, Securitisation & Structured Solutions), Equity (cash execution, derivatives market making and brokerage, corporate broking), Fixed Income (market making, SABE systems for best execution on bonds/ETFs/equity, AKIS systematic internaliser), Customer Solutions (interest rates, FX/commodities), and Investment Products (Certificates, Cross Assets & Structured Products). The platform integrates proprietary technology systems including SABE (Best Execution Engine across bonds, ETFs and equity), AKIS (Systematic Internaliser), and benefits from the Oaklins Italy M&A advisory network acquired in 2021. Services target corporate clients, financial institutions, and professional investors through the Group's extensive distribution network.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Oaklins Italy: M&A advisory and cross-border corporate finance services, part of Oaklins International network with operations in over 45 countries.
• SABE
• AKIS

Products and services

• Corporate Finance M&A (Corporate) Advisory for extraordinary transactions including company acquisitions, disposals, mergers/splits and fairness opinions, serving corporates, family businesses and private equity funds.
• Corporate Finance M&A (Financial Institutions) Advisory for banks, insurance companies, asset managers and specialty finance operators on M&A, disposals, mergers and fairness opinions.
• Equity Capital Markets (ECM) IPO, secondary offerings, capital increases, SPAC and equity placements for companies seeking to access equity capital markets.
• Debt Capital Markets (DCM) Bond issuance, funding and placement services, including green, social, sustainable and sustainability-linked bonds, for Italian companies diversifying their debt funding base.
• Securitisation & Structured Solutions (Corporate) Securitisation of commercial credit portfolios for working capital financing, for companies with consolidated turnover above €100 million.
• Securitisation Financial Institutions Structured funding, risk transfer, NPE disposal and structured lending solutions for banks and financial institutions, with €16+ billion GBV of NPE disposal track record.
• Equity Equity services including cash market access, derivatives trading, market making and brokerage across domestic and international equity markets.
• Fixed Income Trading and market making in government, supranational, agency, corporate and financial bonds across Italian and international regulated markets, MTFs, OTC and as Systematic Internaliser via AKIS.
• Equity Derivatives Market Making Market making on equity derivatives traded on major regulated and OTC markets, providing plain vanilla and exotic tailor-made quotes for professional clients.
• Equity Derivatives Listed (Brokerage) Brokerage on futures and options listed on Italian and international markets including IDEM and EUREX, with leadership in the energy commodities segment.
• Corporate Broking & Specialist Specialist and corporate broking services for listed companies, providing bid-ask quotes, investor relations support and financial research distribution.
• Customer Solutions Risk management for corporate and institutional clients, including interest rate hedging, FX and commodities trading, equity derivatives and credit instruments.
• Certificates Investment certificates issued in collaboration with Banco BPM since 2006 for retail, professional and institutional clients, including ESG certificates, with various protection and yield structures.
• Cross Assets & Structured Products Tailor-made financial indexing of insurance products and structured products for banks and financial institutions, including ESG-linked structures.
• Research Financial research covering approximately 120 Italian listed companies (FTSE MIB plus mid/small caps) and 370 European companies through ESN, including sponsored research on over 30 listed companies.
• ESG Services ESG investment services including green, social, sustainable and sustainability-linked bond issuances, ESG certificates and ESG financial research.
• SABEbond (Fixed Income Best Execution Engine) Proprietary automatic Best Execution system for bonds that competes the best available execution venues across regulated markets, MTFs and OTFs under MiFID II/MiFIR.
• AKIS (Systematic Internaliser) Systematic Internaliser of Banca Akros providing continuous buy/sell price quotations on a list of guaranteed-capital bond instruments issued/distributed by Group banks and client banks on their networks.
• SABEetf (ETF Best Execution Engine) Automated Best Execution system for ETF, ETP, ETC and ETN trading with daily performance measurement and dynamic ranking, covering competing European execution venues under MiFID II/MiFIR.
• SABEequity (Equity Best Execution Engine) Dynamic Best Execution for non-ETF equity products across European regulated markets and MTFs including Boerse Berlin Equiduct, Vorvel MTF and Tradeweb MTF equity segments.
• Oaklins Italy M&A Advisory Cross-border M&A advisory through the Oaklins International network of 900+ professionals in 45+ countries, specialised in cross-border mid-market transactions.

Quantifiable outcome

• 60+ securitisation operations structured with total volume exceeding €45 billion over 20+ years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Oaklins InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2021In May 2021, Banca Akros acquired 100% of Oaklins Italy S.r.l., the Italian arm of Oaklins International. Oaklins operates as one of the longest-standing and most developed international M&A advisory organisations active in the mid-market, specialising in cross-border operations. The network comprises 900+ professionals in more than 45 countries and 70 offices worldwide, having closed approximately 1,850 deals in 5 years totalling US$110 billion, including 531 cross-border transactions. For Banca Akros, the acquisition extends its M&A capabilities internationally and gives Grupo Banco BPM clients access to Oaklins' global reach.
• ESN LLP (European Securities Network)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2002Founded in 2002 by Banca Akros and other institutions, ESN LLP is a European common company specialised in equity research. ESN's business model combines independent European financial research conducted by local analyst teams with sales services exercised by local brokers. ESN covers 370 listed companies across Europe. Banca Akros co-founded the network and contributes its Italian equity research capability.
• ESN LLP (European Securities Network)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerESN is a pan-European equity research and sales partnership covering 370 companies across Europe. Banca Akros contributes Italian equity research and distributes European research through its institutional sales team. The partnership enables pan-European coverage without maintaining physical presence in each country.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Lazard Italia: Global financial advisory firm with significant Italian mid-cap M&A franchise. Competes directly on Italian M&A mandates and cross-border transactions, with broader international reach.
• UniCredit — Corporate & Investment Banking: Large Italian and pan-European investment bank with M&A, ECM, DCM, market making, and securitisation capabilities. Competes with Banca Akros on many of the same mid-cap and large-cap Italian mandates.
• Rothschild & Co Italia: Global advisory boutique with strong Italian M&A footprint. Directly competes for Italian mid-cap M&A mandates and brings international cross-border advisory capabilities comparable to Banca Akros's Oaklins partnership.
• Intesa Sanpaolo — IMI Corporate & Investment Banking: Investment banking division of Italy's largest banking group, with overlapping M&A, ECM, DCM, market making, and structured finance capabilities but at materially larger scale and balance sheet.
• Berenberg: European investment bank with equity research, ECM advisory, and corporate broking across European mid-caps. Comparable as a research-led European mid-market broker serving institutional investors.

Direct peers

• Intermonte: Italian independent investment bank and broker offering equity research, market making, ECM advisory, and institutional sales. Directly comparable in mid-cap Italian ECM, equity research, and market making focus.
• Mediobanca: Italy's leading mid-large investment bank and merchant bank with comparable M&A advisory, ECM, DCM, and consumer/private banking activities. Closely comparable in product mix and Italian corporate client base, though larger and listed.
• Banca Profilo: Italian investment bank/private bank offering ECM/DCM advisory, market making, asset management, and private banking. Comparable scale and product mix in the Italian mid-market investment banking space.
• Kepler Cheuvreux: European mid-market broker with equity research, execution, and corporate access capabilities across European mid-caps. Comparable as a pan-European mid-market equity and ECM partner; both firms contribute research into pan-European networks.
• Equita: Independent Italian investment bank with similar ECM/DCM advisory, market making, institutional research, and asset management (SGR) operations. Closely comparable mid-market Italian investment banking profile.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bancaakros

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Banca Akros