(Finance) – The war has extinguished in the bud a hypothesis of merger between UniCredit And Commerzbank. The two banks were in fact going to start negotiations for an extraordinary operation before Russia invaded Ukraine, according to reports from the Financial Times, citing three sources familiar with the affair. According to the British newspaper, UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel had planned informal talks earlier this year for a possible merger between the subsidiary HVB and the German institute with colleague Manfred Knof.
Before the details could be finalized, Russia invaded Ukraine and UniCredit decided to manage its exposure to Moscow before proceeding with M&A deals. An agreement would have led to the creation of the second largest German bank with assets of € 785 billion, 1,000 branches and 48,000 employees, according to the FT’s calculations. Commerzbank, interviewed by Reuters, said its strategy aims to create the conditions to remain independent, with a spokesperson for the German lender who declined to comment on market speculation.
To a question on the subject in December, after the presentation of the new strategic plan, CEO Andrea Orcel replied: “There have always been rumors on this subject but timing is key and if on the one hand we will always evaluate the strategic options of M&A if they meet clear requirements, on the other hand we must focus on the realization of the strategic plan, since we do not want to disappoint the shareholders “.
There was also talk of a UniCredit offer for Commerzbank in the spring of 2019at the same time as the difficulties encountered by the merger plans between the German bank and Deutsche Bank.