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UniCredit has gained control of about 28 per cent of the voting rights in Commerzbank in the latest escalation of its controversial takeover attempt of Germany’s second-largest listed lender.
The Italian bank, which had raised its total holdings to 21 per cent in recent weeks, said in a statement that the move was in line with its ambition to increase its holding to 29.9 per cent.
It started building the stake in September, leading to speculation that it would launch a takeover bid. UniCredit owns a 9.5 per cent direct stake in Commerzbank and an additional 18.5 per cent through derivatives.
The Italian bank on Wednesday disclosed that the formal process for regulatory approval from Europe’s top banking regulator, the ECB, to lift its direct stake from below 10 per cent to just under 30 per cent had been “activated” after it “has submitted the necessary regulatory filings”.
The ECB is now legally obliged to decide on the matter within a 60-day deadline that can be extended by 30 days, with one person familiar with the details telling the FT that a decision will be taken by “mid-March”.
A UniCredit spokesperson told the Financial Times that “the clock has started ticking” but declined to comment further. The ECB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Germany’s financial watchdog BaFin declined to comment.
As UniCredit is an EU-regulated bank with a sound balance sheet, approval is a mere formality, according to people familiar with the process.
UniCredit disclosed a direct stake of more than 9.5 per cent in Commerzbank in September after it bought 4.5 per cent from the German government. It subsequently said it entered derivative positions to buy another 11 per cent stake after having received regulatory approval.
On Wednesday, UniCredit said it had entered additional derivatives position that lifted its “overall position [which] now totals circa 28 per cent”.
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