Frankfurt/M., Hesse, February 15, 2024: The “Comerzbank” lettering is visible on the Commerzbank Tower in the heart of the banking district. Buoyed by a recovery in interest rates, Commerzbank is aiming for further profit growth after a record year. Photo: Helmut Fricke/dpa (Photo by Helmut Fricke/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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Two-thirds of jobs Commerzbank It might disappear UniCredit Commerzbank's auditors warned on Tuesday that a hostile takeover bid for Deutsche Bank had been successful.
Stephan Wittmann, a leader in the German labor union Verdi, told CNBC's Annette Weisbach that he is “hopeful that we can definitely avoid” a hostile takeover by the Italian bank. Wittmann said Commerzbank's board has asked the German government to conduct an internal review of the potential takeover, which he hopes will give the bank six months to assess the situation.
“But what if [a hostile takeover] “A crisis is inevitable, two-thirds of jobs will be lost and further deep cuts will be made in the sector,” he said, according to a translation.
“In particular, you can see that UniCredit does not want all of Commerzbank's clients, but is focusing on the best clients, namely the wealthy ones,” he added.
Berlin would likely play a key role in any merger, having pumped 18.2 billion euros ($20.2 billion) into Commerzbank to rescue it during the 2008 financial crisis and becoming the bank's largest shareholder.
“We are really concerned about the economic and industrial liability, that any merger would necessarily hurt our workforce, which is something that unions place a lot of importance on,” Wittman said. The bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wittman's remarks.
UniCredit said on Monday it had filed an application to raise its stake in the German bank to about 21 percent and further increase its stake to 29.9 percent, hinting at a possible takeover bid. Earlier this month, the Italian bank confirmed it had acquired a 9 percent stake in Commerzbank, half of which came from the German government.
UniCredit said it believed it could unlock significant value within Commerzbank, Germany's second-largest bank, but further action was needed to “materialise” that value.
Reuters reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized UniCredit's move on Monday, saying “unfriendly attacks and hostile takeovers are not good for banks. That is why the German government is clearly setting the course in this direction.”
“I'm very nervous.”
Commerzbank's supervisory board is due to meet this week to discuss UniCredit's stake, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the matter. He previously told CNBC.
Wittman said the mood inside the company was “very tense” at the moment, adding that the bank was surprised by UniCredit's announcement on Monday, which he described as “a 180-degree turnaround in less than 48 hours.”
“[UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel] “He last said on Friday that he wanted a friendly takeover with the consent of all stakeholders and politicians, and then yesterday we were surprised by his attempt at a hostile takeover. This doesn't make sense,” Wittman said.
The supervisory board members explained that the two main reasons for taking a critical view of the possible merger were the absence of a European banking union and the fact that UniCredit had “been absorbed into Italian government bonds in recent years”.
He questioned what would happen if geopolitical tensions or “upheaval” affected UniCredit's supply of capital for Commerzbank's industrial lending.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, the European Commission announced plans to establish a banking union to improve the regulation and supervision of banks across the region.
Mario Draghi, an economist and former European Central Bank president, wrote in a recent report that European banks face regulatory obstacles that “constrain their ability to lend” and cited an “incomplete” banking union as one factor affecting the competitiveness of banks in the region.
“As employee representatives on the Supervisory Board, we have always maintained that a merger is possible and should happen. [a] “Only if there is a banking union at the European level. And this is our second point of criticism: create the rules of the game and the guardrails first, and then do it sensibly once it is clear what playing field we are on,” Wittmann said.
