Sanpaolo SpA plans to launch its €33 billion ($37 billion) takeover bid for rival Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA by the end of this month, according to people familiar with the matter.

Intesa plans to start the offer in the week of Nov. 23, the people said, asking not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The timetable could still change. A spokesperson for Intesa declined to comment.

Italy’s biggest bank received the last regulatory authorizations on Oct. 28, triggering a 10-day period for watchdog Consob to approve the offer document. Clearance would allow Intesa to publish the document and open the tender period. Antitrust approval remains pending, though it isn’t a prerequisite for launching the offer.

Chief Executive Officer Carlo Messina is moving forward with his plan after shareholders of Monte Paschi last week rejected an alternative strategy. Should Intesa’s bid be successful it would reshape Italian finance and give Messina control of Paschi as well as Mediobanca, in which the Tuscan lender owns about 86%, and a roughly 13% holding in Assicurazioni Generali SpA.

Intesa’s path was cleared last week when Paschi investors overwhelmingly rejected CEO Luigi Lovaglio’s defense plan. Lovaglio had proposed acquiring Banco BPM SpA and Banca Generali SpA, but more than 90% of votes cast opposed both transactions.

The rejection of Paschi’s plan was “clear and by a significant margin,” Messina said Friday. “There was absolute consensus to move forward with our offer.”