Keystone-SDA
The German government on Wednesday criticized the new rise of the Italian bank UniCredit in the capital of its German rival Commerzbank, seeing it as an “unconcerted and unfriendly” action.
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December 18, 2024 – 4:04 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) UniCredit, which announced on Wednesday that it now holds “around 28%” of Commerzbank, “is once again acting in an unconcerted manner and with unfriendly methods”, declared a government spokesperson, Wolfgang Büchner, regretting that this initiative had been taken ahead of the February parliamentary elections in Germany.
“Unicredit had previously publicly stressed that it no longer wished to act before the federal elections,” observed the spokesperson, who described the approach of the second Italian banking group as “inappropriate”.
Towards a merger
UniCredit, which had already surprised the markets by announcing in September that it had acquired 9% of the capital of Commerzbank – including 4.5% from the German State -, makes no secret of its interest in the second German bank with a view to a possible merger.
The German government immediately declared itself hostile to any takeover, defending the independence of Commerzbank.
A position reaffirmed on Wednesday: the German state “views Unicredit’s projects with a critical eye, because the integration of two large banks of systemic importance is always accompanied by considerable risks, among others for employees”, declared Mr. Büchner.
After its entry into the capital of Commerzbank in September, UniCredit then announced that it would increase its stake to 21% and aim, subject to authorization procedures and the green light from the European Central Bank (ECB), up to 29.9%. , which would place the Milanese establishment very close to the 30% threshold beyond which it would have to submit a takeover offer.
