UniCredit boosts stake in Commerzbank

UniCredit has raised its stake in Germany's Commerzbank to 28 percent through new derivative contracts, the Italian bank announced on Wednesday, December 18. This move comes as UniCredit faces challenges in its bid for Italian rival Banco BPM.

In September, UniCredit became the largest private shareholder in Commerzbank, a development that sparked criticism from the German government.

The bank had initially sought approval from the European Central Bank (ECB) to increase its stake to 29.9 percent, just below the threshold requiring a mandatory takeover offer. Following this, UniCredit boosted its stake through derivatives to nearly 21 percent.

The ECB's approval process is still ongoing, and UniCredit has confirmed it is in contact with regulators. The review process can take up to 90 working days from the submission of documents.

UniCredit now owns 9.5 percent of Commerzbank directly and an additional 18.5 percent through derivatives. Commerzbank, in response to UniCredit's announcement, stated it would refrain from commenting further, focusing instead on presenting its strategy to investors on February 13.

Commerzbank's shares rose 3.9 percent by 0841 GMT on the news.

This development comes as UniCredit faces mounting pressure to improve its bid for Banco BPM, which currently stands at a 14 percent discount to its market price. CEO Andrea Orcel emphasized the importance of UniCredit's participation in the accelerating consolidation of Italy's banking sector.

However, Orcel also confirmed that UniCredit would delay further expansion in Germany until a new government is formed, due to a regulation that would force the bank to pay cash if it made a full bid for Commerzbank within six months of surpassing a 5 percent ownership threshold.

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