Commerzbank in upheaval: The major Italian bank Unicredit is making a major investment in the Frankfurt-based bank – the stock market is already speculating on a takeover. And the boss has announced his retirement.
The major Italian bank Unicredit is investing heavily in Commerzbank, fueling speculation about a takeover of the Frankfurt-based bank. The Italians jumped at the chance to sell shares announced by the federal government and also bought shares on the market, as Unicredit announced in Milan. In total, the Italians already hold around nine percent of Commerzbank shares.
The Verdi trade union announced its opposition to a possible takeover of the second-largest private bank in Germany. It demanded support from the federal government, which has only just begun its exit from Commerzbank.
Unicredit has not said whether it intends to increase its stake in Commerzbank further. In order to be able to make flexible decisions, however, it wants to get approval from the regulators to increase its stake to more than 9.9 percent. Commerzbank shares shot up by almost 19 percent. “With today’s announcement, we believe Commerzbank is once again a potential takeover target,” wrote Philipp Häßler, an analyst at DZ Bank.
Meanwhile, a change is also imminent in the executive suite of Commerzbank: CEO Manfred Knof will not extend his contract, which expires at the end of 2025, the DAX group surprisingly announced on Tuesday evening. The selection process for the successor is to begin immediately.
Unicredit secures shares from the federal government
In light of the news from Milan, Commerzbank stressed that the Board of Management and Supervisory Board would continue to act in the “best interests” of all shareholders, employees and customers. The bank, which has around 42,000 employees, described Unicredit’s involvement as “proof of the importance of Commerzbank”.
Employee representatives, however, were alarmed. Verdi union secretary and Commerzbank supervisory board member Stefan Wittmann told the “Handelsblatt” that they would defend themselves “with all means at their disposal”. He referred to the takeover of Munich-based Hypo-Vereinsbank by Unicredit. Thousands of jobs were cut there and many competencies were transferred to Milan. Wittmann demanded help from the federal government. “The federal government must now take a clear stance and use its remaining stake of twelve percent to prevent a damaging takeover of Commerzbank.”
Unicredit outbids other offers
Unicredit acquired around half of the 9 percent package from the federal government. As part of its recently announced exit from Commerzbank, it sold almost 4.5 percent of the package to the Italians. They were prepared to pay more than the shares were worth on the stock exchange on Tuesday evening, the federal finance agency explained. All shares offered by the federal government were allocated to Unicredit “as a result of a significant outbidding of all other offers.”
The federal government raised just over 700 million euros from the sale of the 53 million shares. The German state’s share has thus fallen to 12 percent, but it remains the largest shareholder in Commerzbank, which has been partially nationalized since the financial crisis.
Italians heavily involved in German private customer business
With a share of nine percent, Unicredit is now the second largest shareholder. Unicredit made a move into the German banking market almost 20 years ago. In 2005, it bought the German Hypovereinsbank for around 15 billion euros and has had a strong presence in the German private customer market ever since.
Unicredit and Commerzbank were among the biggest losers on the stock market during the 2008/2009 financial and economic crisis and the EU debt crisis. The situation for both banks has since improved significantly, partly due to higher interest rates.
Unicredit is worth almost 60 billion euros on the stock market and could afford to take over Commerzbank. The Frankfurt-based bank’s market value is only around a quarter of that, at around 15 billion euros. There has been speculation in recent years about a takeover by the Italians.
Commerzbank looking for new boss
Meanwhile, Commerzbank has to deal with the successor to CEO Knof, who will unexpectedly step down at the end of 2025. The manager, who indicated that the move was for personal reasons, has been leading the bank since 2021 and had tightened the bank’s austerity measures: thousands of jobs were eliminated and the branch network shrank significantly. With the restructuring and thanks to increased interest rates, Commerzbank managed to turn the tide.
The most promising candidate for the successor is Commerzbank’s CFO and Vice-Chairman Bettina Orlopp (54). She has long been said to have ambitions for the top job. The question of who will lead the Frankfurt bank in the future has recently caused unrest at the institute. There was also talk of a power struggle.
Source: Stern
