UniCredit said investors have tendered shares equal to 17.60% of Commerzbank’s outstanding share capital in response to its voluntary offer, a result the bank said was “well ahead” of its initial expectations.
The offer was launched in May this year.
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Added to UniCredit’s existing 26.77% holding and financial instruments giving it the right to seek physical delivery of another 3.22%, the total interest comes to 47.59%.
According to UniCredit, that position corresponds to 49.65% of Commerzbank voting rights because treasury shares do not carry votes.
It also said the figure would reach that level once Commerzbank cancels its treasury shares, a step it has already committed to take.
UniCredit described the end of the offer periods as another stage in carrying out its investment in Commerzbank.
It said it would continue talks with relevant stakeholders while moving through the required regulatory and supervisory procedures linked to the investment.
Chief executive Andrea Orcel must now decide whether to increase the holding beyond 50%, which would enable UniCredit to put forward changes to Commerzbank’s board, or try first to secure broader backing, as he had previously promised.
Germany’s finance ministry repeated its objections to UniCredit, describing its “aggressive and hostile approach” as unacceptable, reported Reuters.
The German state still owns 12% of Commerzbank after the bank’s 2009 bailout.
UniCredit now expects the European Central Bank to determine that it controls Commerzbank under German rules, the report added.
Even so, majority ownership would still be needed to appoint all shareholder representatives on Commerzbank’s supervisory board, something Orcel has indicated the bank may want to pursue.
Hans-Peter Burghof, chair of banking and financial services at the University of Hohenheim, said employee representatives hold half of the seats on the board and are opposed to UniCredit’s approach.
He also said the bailout agreement keeps two seats for the government. If the supervisory board is split evenly, its chair, a post currently held by former Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann, has a casting vote worth double, noted Reuters.
