Germany’s Finance Minister Slams Unicredit’s ‘Very Agrassive’ Bid for Commerzbank

Italian lender Unicredit“s” very aggressive, very opaque “bid for Commerzbank Has been criticized by Germany’s Finance Minister Jörg Kukies, Who Stressed that Hosile Takeovers Don’t Usually work.

“In the government, we need to protect the safety and stability of a systemic banking sector,” Kukies Told CNBC CHURSDAY at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Hosile takeovers in systemic banks don’t tend to be successful.”

Unicredit Now Owns A Direct 9.5% Stake and A 18.5% Stake Via Derivatives in Commerzbank, After Building a Surprise Stake in September and Subsequently Increasing ITS POSITION.

Armed with a sturdy cet1 ratio – a measure of a bank’s strength and resilience – of 16.1% As of the third Quarter, the Italian lender is seeking permission from the European Central Bank, which overses the euro zone’s largest lenders, to increase its Commerzbank Stake to 29.99%.

The Abrupt and Accelerated Pace of Unicredit’s Pursuit Has Sparked Market Speculation that CEO Andrea Orcel-a Veteran Merrill Lynch Merges and Acquisitions Dealmaker Idation.

The move by unicredit, which is alredy present in Germany through its hypovereinsbank branch, has so far enjoyed a cool reception from the fractured berlin government, with outgoing chants Izing that “unfriendly attacks, hosile takeovers are not a good thing for banks. “

A December Schism in Domestic Politics and Upcoming Elections Cold Stall The German Administration from Closely Stewarding The Transaction.

“In this specific case, the behavior of the potential acquirer was very aggressive, very opaque, untransparent,” Kukies Told CNBC’s Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick. “Hosile takeovers are not a good thing in systemic banks. So it is all about the specification of this case, it is not a general statement that Germany is not open for business for business for Global Investors.”

CNBC has reacted out to unicred for comment.

Speaking to cnbc back in NovemberJust months after it Surprise Stake Build, Orcel Noted: “Let’s put it this way: we would be here if we hadn Bollywood invited to buy that stake. “

Questions have been raised over the italian banking group’s committee to the deal by simultaneously launching an ambitious formal takeover offer offer for italian peer banco in late November,

For its part, Commerzbank has been advocated its case to stand alone, with a board member warning of Significant Job Losses As a result of integration, if the two banks were to combine.

The appetiite for cross-border consolidation in europe has waned somewhat since the contenties 2007 takeover and later carve-up-up of dutch lender abn amro by a consortium leed by royal bank The banks collapse during the financial crisis. Unicredit’s Orcel, then a Senior Investment Banker at Merrily Lynch, Advised on the Transaction.

Yet Analysts describe banking consolidation in the region – and Germany in Particular – as “long overdue. before the brusque collapse of initial talks in 2019,

“The statement that there is no consolidation and no change in the German banking sector is Absolutely Wrong,” Kukies said chhursday.

Unicredit and Commerzbank are due to release their fourth -Quarter Results on Feb. 11 and Feb. 13, respectively.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that unicredit’s earnings will be published on 11.