Possible takeover: Bundeskartellamt checks Unicredit entry at Commerzbank

The major Italian bank Unicredit has submitted its entry to Commerzbank at the Federal Cartel Office for the examination. The authority examines the effects of acquiring a minority stake at Commerzbank on the competition, said a spokesman for the Federal Cartel Office. UniCredit has therefore registered a share of up to 29.99 percent of Germany’s second largest private bank.

The Bundeskartellamt now has up to one month for a first phase of the investigation and up to four more months for an in-depth examination of the UniCredit plans, as the speaker said. The process will be listed on the list of the cartel office to date on Monday.

ECB banking supervision also checks

The European banking supervision, which is located at the ECB, also takes a close look at the plans of the Unicredit. The ECB checks investors who want to own ten percent or more on a bank to ensure that they are suitable shareholders.

The Unicredit had used the federal government in September and had entered Commerzbank on a large scale. In the meantime, it controls around 28 percent of the shares, 9.5 percent of them directly via stocks and 18.5 percent via financial instruments. From a share of 30 percent, UniCredit would be legally obliged to submit a takeover offer. Commerzbank, works council and unions as well as the federal government reject the procedure of the UniCredit.

Commerzbank, which the Unicredit’s plans considered hostile, advertises with generous dividends and increased return destinations for an independent course at its shareholders. Despite a record profit, she recently announced the reduction of 3,900 full -time positions, the majority of it in Germany. Unicredit boss Andrea Orcel wants to wait for talks with the new federal government before further steps.