The German government denies the news released today by the German weekly WirtschaftsWoche according to which it would prefer a merger of Commerzbank with BNP Paribas, specifying that it has not entered into any negotiations for the sale of its 15% stake in the bank.
“The WirtschaftsWoche report is incorrect. There are no negotiations and we have not mandated an investment bank” the German Finance Ministry announced in a statement, adding that “our position on Commerzbank remains unchanged. We are not under pressure for a deadline. We want to achieve a good result in perspective for taxpayers”.
On Wednesday, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that Unicredit had expressed interest in Berlin in a future merger with Commerzbank, rumors that caused the Italian bank to crash on the stock market. This morning, an article in the economic weekly WirtschaftsWoche spoke of Berlin's preference for an operation with the French bank.
