It is becoming increasingly unlikely that Commerzbank will be taken over by UniCredit. With the surprising bid for domestic rival Banco BPM, the Italians are changing course.
Anyone who had speculated on the stock market about the takeover of Commerzbank by the major Italian bank UniCredit had to accept several low blows at the beginning of the week.
In the morning, the Italians surprised with a new bid – for their domestic rival Banco BPM. This is currently valued at around ten billion euros. UniCredit emphasized that the planned acquisition was independent of interest in Commerzbank, which currently has a market value of around 17 billion euros. But it makes their takeover less likely.
Already on Sunday evening, Federal Finance Minister Jörg Kukies told the ARD explains that the Italians should refrain from the proposed transaction. “We have a very critical attitude, and the CEO of UniCredit has said that he does not want to ignore the criticism of the federal government,” said the SPD politician. “So I assume that he won't do that either.”
“Probability for deal lower than expected”
On Friday, UniCredit boss Andrea Orcel said in London that his company did not want to take action during the vacuum before the federal election planned for the end of February. Today Orcel added that the likelihood of a Commerzbank deal is lower than expected. We will see whether the investment leads to more or not. UniCredit will never integrate two banks at the same time.
For now, Commerzbank is only concerned with improving its performance. Until then, he will classify the investment in Germany's second-largest private bank primarily as a financial investment. The Italians currently have access to around 21 percent of the German financial institution.
Italian government cautious
“It seems like they have more important things to do at the moment than dealing with German lawmakers,” commented one stock market trader. Against this background, the takeover fantasy for Commerzbank dwindled significantly at the beginning of the week. By the afternoon, bank shares had fallen by another six percent, reaching their lowest level in more than two months.
Meanwhile, Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini expressed skepticism about the offer for Banco BPM. “I don’t like bank concentration,” said Salvini. He also expressed surprise at the move. “Last I heard, UniCredit wanted to grow in Germany,” he noted.
