ROME (Reuters) -Germany doesn’t anticipate Italy’s UniCredit to launch a full bid for German rival Commerzbank at current, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated on Saturday.
UniCredit disclosed final yr that it had constructed an internet of economic transactions by derivatives to safe a Commerzbank stake of round 28%, and in March acquired European Central Financial institution approval to get to 29.9%.
It has stated the stake is a monetary funding and pushed again any determination on a full takeover, which it says it might be the perfect consequence, to 2026-2027.
Below German guidelines crossing the 30% threshold triggers a buyout supply.
“The share in Commerzbank is beneath that which might require a takeover supply. It’s not foreseeable that this degree will likely be reached or crossed,” Merz instructed a information convention in Rome after assembly Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Merz stated that he didn’t focus on Commerzbank with Meloni as a result of there was no purpose to.
“We might focus on any additional issues if the subject ought to come to be seen in a distinct gentle,” he stated.
Merz has beforehand spoken out in opposition to a possible takeover try which he has stated can be devastating for Germany.
The German finance ministry on Friday denied a media report that Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil would possibly meet his Italian counterpart to debate UniCredit’s push for a merger.
(Reporting by Sara Rossi and Victoria Waldersee, modifying Crispian Balmer)
