UniCredit guns for over 30% of Commerzbank

UniCredit has launched an offer to increase its stake in the German bank Commerzbank beyond the 30% threshold. The goal is not necessarily to immediately acquire control of the institution, but to strengthen its presence and keep open the possibility of strategic developments in the future.

Currently, UniCredit already owns about 26% of Commerzbank’s capital directly and an additional 4% through financial instruments. In Germany, exceeding 30% of the capital of a listed company is a particularly significant threshold: generally, anyone who surpasses it must launch a public offer to purchase the remaining shares of the company. For this reason, the bank led by CEO Andrea Orcel has decided to formalize an offer that would allow it to manage this stake with greater flexibility.

The proposed transaction involves a share exchange. In practice, for each Commerzbank share, shareholders would receive 0.485 UniCredit shares. Through this mechanism, the German bank is valued at approximately €35 billion overall, with a premium of about 4% compared with the recent market price.

According to Orcel, the initiative also aims to reopen dialogue with Commerzbank’s management and with German institutions after months of tensions and opposing positions. UniCredit has emphasized that, at least at this stage, it does not expect to obtain full control of the bank, but rather intends to consolidate its position and keep several strategic options open.

However, the project is encountering resistance in Germany. The German government still owns a significant stake in Commerzbank and has expressed caution about the possibility of the bank coming under the control of a foreign group. Trade unions also fear that a future integration could lead to job cuts or the closure of some branches.

The operation is also being closely monitored at the European level, as it could become one of the most important cases of cross-border banking integration between different countries. For years, European institutions have encouraged cross-border mergers in order to create larger and more globally competitive banking groups, but national political and regulatory obstacles often make such operations difficult to carry out.

Klevis Gjoka