UniCredit has intensified its pursuit of Commerzbank by unveiling a comprehensive turnaround strategy, to overhaul what it describes as “a story of operating underperformance.”
The Italian lender, which is already Commerzbank’s largest shareholder, presented the plan, titled Commerzbank Unlocked, on 20 April.
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It pitched the strategy as a necessary intervention to correct “structural weaknesses” masked by financial tailwinds, which it warns could necessitate future restructurings for the German bank.
In a conference call, UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel said the Frankfurt-based lender risks becoming “increasingly unfit for a banking environment that is changing rapidly”.
UniCredit claims that Commerzbank’s net profit growth and key performance indicators trailed both the broader banking sector and UniCredit’s own metrics between 2021 and 2025.
This follows a €35bn ($41.2bn) full takeover offer announced by UniCredit last month, a move that continues to face stiff resistance from the German government and Commerzbank’s own management.
UniCredit has criticised Commerzbank’s current Momentum strategy, arguing the plan relies on “aggressive” risky non-core bets in international markets while leaving the bank “ill-prepared” to compete with US and fintech entrants in Germany.
The latest roadmap by UniCredit aims to boost Commerzbank’s net profit to €5.1bn by 2028.
The plan highlights the need for Commerzbank to pivot away from non-strategic international activities and instead focus on German SMEs, domestic households, and Polish operations..
Additionally, the Italian bank advocates for a de-risking of international networks, alongside investments in AI, technology, and staff re-skilling.
From UniCredit’s perspective, the German lender is “insufficiently prepared for future challenges and is overly focused on short-term delivery,” leading to an assessment that the bank is “now overvalued relative to fundamentals.”
Commerzbank leadership immediately struck back against the plan, dismissing it as a “speculative attempt to dismantle Commerzbank s successful business model rather than a credible plan for value creation”.
“We are astonished that it took UniCredit more than 18 months to present a unilateral plan that lacks basic understanding of the drivers of our business model despite regular investor meetings during this period,” Commerzbank CEO Bettina Orlopp said.
The German lender has reiterated its commitment to independence after conceding earlier this month that there is currently “no basis for a mutually agreed value-accretive transaction”.
Rebuffing what it termed “hostile tactics and misleading characterisations,” Commerzbank argued that UniCredit’s offer fails to provide an adequate premium and ignores the “significant upside potential” of its existing standalone strategy.
