It ignites European banking risk. Deutsche Bank would like to put a spoke in the wheels of Unicredit and is reportedly evaluating various ways to make it more difficult for the bank led by Andrea Orcel to buy Commerz BankThe bombshell indiscretion comes from Bloomberg, according to which the German bank is evaluating how – or whether – to react to a potential deal that would create a huge competitor in the domestic banking market.
CommerzBank: Deutsche Bank's hypotheses
According to the agency Bloomberg, CEO Christian Sewing and his managers are said to be studying different options, among which there would also be the possible purchase of a part or all of the remaining 12% share of Commerzbank still held by the German government. No comment from Deutsche. In addition to Unicredit and the German state, the Teutonic bank's capital also includes Central bank of Norway with 3% and the French of Amundi with a small share of 0,6%.
Stock market reaction
The news immediately had an impact on the stock market with the Unicredit title which slows down at Piazza Affari, reducing the morning's gains to +0,26%. In Frankfurt, however, Commerzbank rises by 0,6% after having reached -1,7%. Down the shares Deutsche Bank, which are losing 1,27% while waiting to know the real intentions of the German institution.
Previous moves
On September 11, Unicredit surprisingly announced the purchase of a 9% stake in Commerzbank for 1,5 billion euros: 4,49% was acquired in an accelerated book building offering conducted on behalf of the Federal Republic, while the remainder was acquired through market transactions.
In an interview a Bloomberg, CEO Andrea Orcel He then said that UniCredit remains “flexible” on its next moves towards Commerzbank, with a full acquisition remaining among the options. “We are very patient. We could go up, down or combine”, said the manager, stressing that the goal is to create value and that the company is “in no hurry”.
For Reuters, Furthermore, the German government is “in principle not opposed to an agreement” between Commerz and Unicredit, which already controls Hypovereinsbank in Germany. “It is up to the banks to decide what they want to do. But we have to take Commerzbank’s wishes into consideration. Obviously there is strong resistance from the workforce,” government officials reportedly said. The largest German bank could now enter the deal. The president of the ECB will be a special spectator Christine Lagarde who said last Thursday, at a press conference in Frankfurt, that “Banking consolidation at European level is something that has been called for for a long time by various parties and will be interesting to see how it will proceed in the coming weeks."
