Germany's Scholz shuts door to UniCredit after 'attack' on Commerzbank
Business
Germany's Scholz shuts door to UniCredit after 'attack' on Commerzbank
MILAN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz slammed as "an unfriendly attack" UniCredit's move (CRDI.MI), opens new tab to become the biggest investor in rival Commerzbank (CBKG.DE), opens new tab with a potential 21% stake, marking growing hostility towards the Italian bank.
The German establishment's ire towards UniCredit using derivatives to more than double its potential stake before obtaining regulatory clearance for an actual holding of more than 9.9% piles pressure on European Central Bank supervisors.
Led by German academic Claudia Buch, they are now called to rule on UniCredit's request to buy up to 29.9% of Commerzbank.
"Unfriendly attacks, hostile takeovers are not a good thing for banks, and that is why the German government has clearly positioned itself in this direction," Scholz said on the sidelines of an event in New York.
His words sent Commerzbank shares down 5.9% as investors reassessed the chances of a full takeover. UniCredit closed down 3.3%.
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel's bold attempt to build Europe's biggest bank has become a test of the bloc's resolve to overcome national borders to retain global relevance.
After unveiling a 9% stake in Commerzbank this month, Orcel has said he would seek a tie-up if he could garner support, adding he could also just hold onto the stake, or sell it.
Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democrat opposition leader whom many see as Germany's next chancellor, described Orcel's tactics as "amateur" and a takeover as a "disaster for Germany's banking market", pointing to the precedent of HVB.
UniCredit, which has up to 6.5 billion euros in capital it could use for acquisitions, bought in 2005 Bavarian bank HVB, whose business, though much smaller, is more profitable than Commerzbank's after hefty staff cuts over the years.
