Commerzbank rejects €39bn UniCredit takeover offer
Offer has drawn pushback from German lender and Chancellor Friedrich Merz
Commerzbank has formally rejected UniCredit’s roughly €39bn takeover offer as too low, urging shareholders not to tender their shares to the Italian lender.
In a statement on Monday, Commerzbank’s management and supervisory boards said UniCredit had failed to offer an “adequate premium” and lacked a “coherent and credible strategic plan” for combining the two banks.
The German lender said its standalone strategy would deliver greater long-term value for shareholders.
The rejection escalates the battle over Germany’s second-largest listed bank, which has previously criticised UniCredit over what it called “hostile tactics” by the Milan-based lender. UniCredit already owns a 26.77 per cent stake and holds a further 12.1 per cent through derivatives.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Europe needs large lenders but that his government is opposed to “aggressive” methods in takeover battles.
The Italian bank is offering 0.485 UniCredit shares for each Commerzbank share, valuing the target at about €38.7bn based on Monday’s share prices, below Commerzbank’s market capitalisation of roughly €41.5bn.
UniCredit’s all-share offer remains open until June 16, although the bank has said the deal is unlikely to close before 2027 pending regulatory approvals.