Control of Commerzbank ‘not the expected scenario’
Andrea Orcel, chief executive officer of Unicredit, in London, United Kingdom, on Thursday, November 23, 2023.
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UniCredit The Italian lender does not foresee a future in which it will be in full control, CEO Andrea Orcel told CNBC on Tuesday commerzbank.
Orcel’s comments came as the Italian banker launched a tender offer to increase its stake in the German bank.
“If we take control, which is not the expected scenario right now, it’s very clear what we’re going to do and the payoff from that will be very positive for our shareholders and also for Commerzbank shareholders, but that’s up to them,” he told CNBC’s Carolin Roth.
“We’re not really worried about it. We’re just focused on delivery and we’ve done what we can to engage and now we’re just looking at what the shareholders do.”
Last month UniCredit announced an offer to buy more shares in Commerzbank, structured as a share exchange. The move aims to increase UniCredit’s holdings in Commerzbank above 30%, a key regulatory threshold.
It already owns a 28% stake in Commerzbank after steadily increasing its investment in the German bank after taking a minority stake in 2024.
Commerzbank’s tender offer opens on Tuesday.
On Monday, UniCredit shareholders voted to approve the issuance of 470 million new shares, which can be exchanged for Commerzbank shares tendered in the offer.
Orcel’s interview with CNBC came after UniCredit released first-quarter earnings that were touted as the bank’s 21st quarter of profitable growth and its best quarter in history.
Quarterly net profit reached 3.2 billion euros ($3.74 billion), up 16.1% year on year; This was well above the €2.8 billion expected by analysts surveyed by LSEG.
UniCredit shares rose nearly 3% in early trading Tuesday.
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