Andrea Orcel arrived in Berlin in the last few hours to meet Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, deputy prime minister in the Merz government, in a conversation which according to MF will have a significant impact on the next timing and methods of Unicredit’s operation on Commerzbank.
On the table are the conditions that the German government – a shareholder with a 12.7% stake in Commerzbank – intends to set in order not to oppose the integration. At the end of the public exchange offer, Unicredit came to hold 47.6% of the capital of the German bank, equal to 49.65% of the voting rights once Commerzbank’s post-buyback treasury shares had been cancelled.
Berlin’s demands
Klingbeil’s spokesperson underlined that Commerzbank plays “a key role in financing the German economy, SMEs and Frankfurt as a financial centre”, a “role that must also be guaranteed in the future”.
According to rumors leaked on the eve of the meeting, the Merz government will push on four fronts: maintaining credit levels for small and medium-sized German businesses, protecting around 38 thousand jobs, guaranteeing the headquarters in Frankfurt and keeping Commerzbank listed on the Dax. Berlin also requests the right to appoint two non-executive directors to the board of the new entity, thus retaining some influence.
The political context
The meeting takes place at a delicate moment for the German executive, grappling with the rise in the polls of Alternative für Deutschland (Afd). The victory of the far right in Saxony and the possible important results expected in the Länder of Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, fueled by the country’s economic slowdown, risk hardening the government’s positions.
Among those who hope that the public share will be maintained in the new group is the president of Commerzbank, the former Bundesbank Jens Weidmann. Unicredit has already been present in Germany for over 20 years through the Bavarian HypoVereinsbank (Hvb).