Italian bank stocks surge after Intesa launches surprise bid for UBI

MILAN (Reuters) - Intesa Sanpaolo's surprise 4.86 billion euro (£4.05 billion) bid for smaller rival UBI Banca , announced overnight, sent Italian bank stocks surging on Tuesday as it kicked off a long-awaited consolidation of the sector.UBI Banca shares jumped 22% at the market open before trading was suspended, while Intesa shares rose 2%. The Italian banking stocks index was up 3.5% .Italy's top retail bank said late on Monday it would offer 1.7 newly issued shares for every UBI share..