MILAN, Sept 19 (Askume) – UniCredit (CRDI.MI) was able to buy 4.5% of Commerzbank (CBKG.DE) from the German government because the government trusted the Italian bank, its chief executive said in a newspaper interview and ruled out any takeover possibility.
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel told the Italian daily Couriere on Thursday that the bank has been in talks with the German government for some time.
“This summer I was traveling back and forth between my family’s seaside resort and Germany,” he said.
“The German government has sold a 4.5% stake in Commerzbank to UniCredit because it considers Commerzbank to be a reliable and suitable investor,” he said.
Asked if UniCredit would make an unsolicited takeover bid to acquire the stakes of other Commerzbank investors, Oser said: “No, that would be a radical move.”
This month, Italy’s UniCredit emerged as the highest bidder in a government auction to sell a 4.5% stake in Germany’s Commerzbank. The Italian bank has already bought a similar stake in the market and is now Commerzbank’s biggest private investor.
In separate comments to German newspaper FAZ, Orcel said the 9% stake was “a significant but not intrusive stake. We could have made a modest offer, but we didn’t.”
The results of government tenders in Germany are controversial. Several people familiar with the matter told Askume that UniCredit’s move surprised German government officials.
“We are not unpopular in this process,” Oser told FAZ. “If we thought we were unpopular – and it remains to be seen whether that is still the case today – we would not take this approach. Because in a deal like this, the main players have to agree.”
Orcel reiterated in an interview with Il Messaggero that UniCredit is in no hurry to increase its stake in Commerzbank, although it plans to seek regulatory approval to buy up to 29.9% of the German rival.
UniCredit said it may also sell its stake in Commerzbank.
“At the moment we are only financial investors in Commerzbank. We can resell the shares and make significant profits, because Commerzbank’s share price has increased a lot,” Orcel told the FAZ.
