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Italian Banking Group Still Stalking Commerzbank – Media
The CEO of the Italian group continues, so it seems, his quest to buy Germany's second-largest lender, a desire that has already ruffled feathers.
The CEO of Italy’s UniCredit is
continuing to beat the drum for his bank’s case for buying
Germany’s Commerzbank, a move that
has seen him lock horns with Deutsche Bank.
Andrea Orcel (pictured) has reportedly signalled that he has
all the time in the world to win over stakeholders for his idea
to acquire Frankfurt’s Commerzbank.
“It’s a long process,” Orcel said in an interview with Bloomberg.
“We want to have the opportunity to convince all key
stakeholders, including the government, that a possible
combination creates value.”
On 11 September this year, UniCredit, headquartered in Milan,
revealed that it had bought a 9 per cent chunk of the bank
The story points to how Germany’s banking sector, comprising a
handful of big names such as Deutsche and Commerzbank, and a long
tail of smaller organisations, is arguably ripe for
consolidation, while authorities may want to see
competition.
Yesterday, UniCredit reported a third-quarter 2024 net profit of
€2.5 billion ($2.68 billion), a gain of 8 per cent on the same
period a year earlier. The bank said it had a "strong" Common
Equity Tier 1 ratio at 16.1 per cent. The Milan-based bank has
also raised its 2024 net profit guidance to above €9 billion.
Meanwhile, this week, Commerzbank reported a pre-tax profit
result of €885 million, falling 20.1 per cent on a year earlier.
Speculation of a takeover has turbocharged Commerzbank’s share
price: Since the start of January, the price has soared by 47.2
per cent, although prices dropped almost 3 per cent yesterday,
affected, reports said, by concerns about a rise in provisions
for credit losses.
Commerzbank CEO Bettina Orlopp wants to persuade investors that
the firm fares better as an independent bank.
In September this year, it was
reported that Deutsche’s CEO Christian Sewing and his
colleagues have explored ideas such as buying part or all of the
German government’s remaining 12 per cent stake in Commerzbank.
(The stake is a legacy from when the German state bailed the bank
out in the 2008 global financial crash.)
Commerzbank, which is the second-largest listed bank in Germany,
provides services including private lending; UniCredit also has
private banking and wealth management services.
