The federal government wants to sell its shares in Commerzbank. A first package has now been sold to a major Italian bank.
The major Italian bank Unicredit has secured a stake in Commerzbank. As part of the sale of part of the Commerzbank shares announced a week ago, the federal government sold 4.49 percent of the shares in full to the Italians. They were prepared to pay more than the shares were worth on the stock exchange on Tuesday evening. The entire bid was allocated to Unicredit as a result of “significantly outbidding” all other offers, the responsible federal finance agency announced.
The allocation price was 13.20 euros per share, 60 cents more than the shares were worth at the close of trading on Tuesday. Discounts are usual for such placements. The federal government received 702 million euros from the sale. The state’s shareholding falls to 12 percent as a result of the sale of just over 53 million shares. The state thus remains Commerzbank’s largest shareholder. By purchasing the share package, Unicredit is now the bank’s third-largest shareholder. Number two with around seven percent is the US asset manager Blackrock, which holds the shares through various funds and therefore has no strategic interest. Unicredit is already represented in Germany by HVB.
Source: Stern
