Il German government enters forcefully into the Unicredit-Commerzbank operation. After having launched an internal investigation On the sale of a 4,5 percent stake in Commerzbank held by the state, which allowed the bank led by Andrea Orcel to accumulate a total stake of 9 percent, the Federal Finance Agency announced that “the Federal Government will not sell any more Commerzbank shares until further notice” and “this also includes sales in the context of any share buybacks by Commerzbank”. “The bank’s strategy is geared towards independence”, the agency added, “and the Federal Government will accompany it until further notice by maintaining its shareholding”.
German Government Stops Selling and Blocks Unicredit (But Also Deutsche Bank)
Simply put, the 12,5% of Commerzbank still in state hands remains where it is in order to curb any possible foreign or domestic targeting. With this move, in fact, Berlin blocks Unicredit takeover bid at least for now which, after having purchased 9% of the capital, intended to further strengthen its position in Commerzbank's capital. However, the stop also involves Deutsche Bank, which was studying the dossier to understand how to react to a potential agreement between the bank led by Andrea Orcel and the second German institution that would have created a huge competitor in the national banking market. Among the hypotheses in the field was the possible purchase by Deutsche of part or all of the remaining share of Commerzbank still held by the Government. The same share that Unicredit had set its sights on.
We now wait to see what Unicredit's reaction will be. In recent days, giving several interviews, CEO Andrea Orcel had made it clear that Piazza Gae Aulenti intended to make further moves, but only with the consent of the German government: “When the government wants to put the remaining share up for sale, if we are welcome and there are the conditions, including price, with the authorization we could move,” the manager had stated, making it clear that there was never the intention to act in a “hostile” manner or to establish a head-on confrontation with the authorities in Berlin.
In the meantime, however, the controversy in Germany has become increasingly heated and on Friday the trade unions also intervened on the issue. In a note, Ver.di and the general works council of Commerzbank had asked the federal government to "take a public stand against a takeover of the German institution by UniCredit” and to “work together with employees to create a strong and independent Commerzbank”. The position, entirely political, came a few hours later.
