Commerzbank, Berlin stops the sale of shares and slows down Unicredit: «It ought to be unbiased» | EUROtoday

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The German state stops the sale of its remaining stake in Commerzbank, after the sale of an preliminary block of shares to Unicredit, which had risen to 9% with the ambition of accelerating its stake within the German establishment. The resolution was made in at this time's assembly by the steering committee of the Financial Market Stabilization Fund (FMS), which specified that the measure additionally consists of operations regarding potential share buybacks by the financial institution itself. “Commerzbank is a stable and profitable institution. The bank's strategy is oriented towards independence”, reads the observe, which specifies that “the federal government will accompany it until further notice, maintaining its shareholding”. Words that, within the eyes of the market, signify a cease to the potential enhance in its share by Unicredit.

The place of the unions

Previously, the German commerce union Ver.di and the final works council of Commerzbank had known as on the federal authorities to “publicly take a stand against a takeover of the German bank by UniCredit” and to “work together with employees to create a strong and independent Commerzbank.”

“This is the only way to continue the successful path that has been undertaken,” added the union, which additionally stories the place taken by the interior coordination. “We as the general works council are fully committed to ensuring the independence and future survival of our bank,” emphasizes President Uwe Tschaege. “A takeover by UniCredit would not only jeopardize the successes” achieved lately, “but would also jeopardize the jobs of our colleagues.” “The federal government,” he provides, “must not sell any more shares in Commerzbank and must express itself in favor of maintaining the independence of the bank, in the interest of the German economy.” Vice President Sascha Uebel, lastly, specifies: “According to our forecasts, a takeover by UniCredit would lead to a profound restructuring and we fear that this would lead to massive job cuts.”

Orcel: «Hostile takeover, we wish dialogue»

In current days, in an interview with Il Messaggero, CEO Andrea Orcel had underlined that UniCredit had been speaking with the German authorities “for some time”, earlier than the transfer that led to the acquisition of 4.5% of Commerzbank and that “for the moment” it intends to stay on the present 9% however will ask the ECB for authorization to extend to 29.9% “to have the possibility of an ongoing dialogue”. The takeover bid – he had specified – “would be an aggressive act”.

“The German government sold us the shares, we had been talking to them for a long time, it was important for us to measure a certain level of consensus”, explains Orcel. The request to the ECB, he says, will likely be introduced “also because when the government wants to put the remaining share (12%, ed.) up for sale, if we are welcome and there are the conditions, including price, with the authorization we could move”. And concerning the likelihood that Deutsche Bank desires to dam the trail of the Italian financial institution, he restricted himself to saying: “We are in a free market”. For the longer term, subsequently, the target is “to have a role. In any case – he said – we want an open dialogue with all interlocutors, without being misunderstood, I want to underline this, we want clarity because we have no ulterior motives. There is no rush, we will see how the situation evolves, we will agree on what to do”.