Commerzbank CEO Manfred Knof has expressed reservations about a merger with the major Italian bank Unicredit, the parent company of Bank Austria. Commerzbank is strong and is committed to implementing the 2027 strategy in order to become more profitable, Knof said on Monday on the sidelines of an event at the ESMT university in Berlin. He did not want to comment specifically on a possible merger.
There has been contact with Unicredit so far. If someone presents good ideas, they will be examined – in the interests of customers, employees and investors, said Knof.
Unicredit boss Andrea Orcel had previously stepped up his efforts to attract Commerzbank. “For the moment, we are just one shareholder. But a merger of the two banks could lead to considerable added value for all stakeholders and would create a much stronger competitor on the German banking market,” Orcel told the “Handelsblatt” newspaper on Monday. There are few overlaps between the institutions. This would create a bank “that complements each other well geographically and is very well balanced with private customer and corporate business.”
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Image: IFR via REUTERS
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