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UniCredit will not ask for a board seat at Commerzbank, according to its chief executive Andrea Orcel, despite potentially becoming the German bank’s largest shareholder with a 21 per cent stake.
Orcel said on Wednesday that “all scenarios are open” for its stake in Commerzbank, including a takeover, but for now UniCredit should be viewed as an investor.
“I usually do not believe in investors having board seats,” he said at a Bank of America conference on Wednesday. “And in this specific case, I think it’s inappropriate for us to have a board seat because we are also a competitor.”
UniCredit has built a large stake in Commerzbank in recent weeks, in a move that has the potential to kick-start consolidation across Europe’s fragmented banking sector.
The Italian bank announced on Monday that it had exposure to Commerzbank that could convert to 21 per cent of its equity if it received permission from the European Central Bank. It has, however, met fierce opposition from the German government and Commerzbank’s board.
This week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticised UniCredit’s approach, saying “unfriendly attacks [and] hostile takeovers are not a good thing for banks and that is why the German government has clearly positioned itself”.
On Tuesday night, Commerzbank announced that its chief financial officer, Bettina Orlopp, would replace Manfred Knof as chief executive “in the near future”.
People familiar with Orlopp’s thinking told the Financial Times she was not supportive of a tie-up with UniCredit and was expected to fight any attempted takeover.
Orcel said that UniCredit had three options on Commerzbank: continue as a significant investor, merge it with UniCredit’s German subsidiary HypoVereinsbank, or sell its stake and return the capital to shareholders.
In a separate announcement on Wednesday, UniCredit said it had agreed to take full control of two insurance joint ventures it has with Allianz and CNP Assurances.
The partnerships with Allianz and CNP date back to 1996 and 2017, respectively. UniCredit is attempting to close the transactions next year.
The bank said this change would allow it to “accelerate growth in a commission-focused sector with attractive profitability where UniCredit is already one of the leading players”.
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