Given how long Commerzbank has eluded UniCredit and other suitors, Andrea Orcel can be quietly satisfied with his first move in what will likely be protracted negotiations over a potential takeover.
The Italian bank’s share price rose slightly yesterday, when it announced that it had acquired a 9% stake in its German rival Commerz, and that it would ask for supervisory approval to increase its stake further. That indicates UniCredit’s shareholders can be convinced of the merits of the deal.
Possibly just as important, the acquisition of a 9% stake forces Commerz, the German government and central bank, and potentially Deutsche Bank, to talk to UniCredit in a serious manner about a full takeover.
Stake sold
There is a long way to go. It will be months before a deal for the entire bank can be concluded. Yet the fact UniCredit was able to acquire 9% is important. It bought almost half of the stake from the German government, which announced earlier in September it would start to sell down its 16.49% share in Commerz that was a legacy of the 2008 financial crisis.
In an accelerated book-building directed to institutional investors this week, it ended up selling the entire 4.49%
