UniCredit’s Maneuvers Raise Temperature Between Rome and Berlin
(Bloomberg) -- Italian government officials are growing frustrated at Germany’s opposition to a potential takeover of Commerzbank AG by Milan-based UniCredit Spa, threatening to disrupt the delicate diplomatic relations between Berlin and Rome.
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Officials in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration have privately criticized the fact that Berlin advocates for more European integration, and then comes out against a possible takeover of Frankfurt-based Commerzbank, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
Some in Rome have also expressed frustration at UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel for being overly aggressive in his bid for the German bank, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. They are worried that it could affect relations between the two countries.
A spokesperson from UniCredit declined to comment.
UniCredit has rapidly built up a big holding in Commerzbank, which is partly owned by the German government and serves as an important source of funding for the country’s economy. The Italian lender first unveiled a stake of 9% on September 11 and then disclosed on Monday it has entered into derivatives allowing it to control 21%, effectively making it Commerzbank’s largest investor before Germany.
Both moves stunned Berlin, which had already indicated on Friday that it opposes an acquisition of Commerzbank by UniCredit. Chancellor Olaf Scholz stepped up the rhetoric on Monday after the disclosure from the Italian lender that it had expanded its holding.
“Unfriendly attacks, hostile takeovers are not a good thing for banks, which is why the German government has taken a clear position here,” Scholz said in New York. “We do not consider this to be an appropriate course of action,” he said, referring to the way Orcel had acquired the Commerzbank stake.
Speaking from New York a little later in the day, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani defended UniCredit and suggested the opposition to its move on Commerzbank displayed a double standard.
“In Europe, there is a free market,” Tajani said. “I don’t understand why when someone comes to buy in Italy, they say that we are in a European system — then if an Italian buys, it is no longer a single market.”
The fomenting dispute between the two countries comes just two weeks after former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi called for greater integration of the European Union’s capital markets, warning that the bloc “must genuinely fear for our self-preservation.”
Still, the deal appears to have at least some backing from lawmakers in Germany. Frank Schaeffler, a member of the finance and budget committee in the German parliament, said in a statement to Bloomberg that it was “crucial” that Berlin reduce its holdings in Commerzbank to allow for a sale.
“If a European bank wants to increase its presence in Germany, then that is a good thing,” Schaeffler said.
--With assistance from Kamil Kowalcze, Michael Nienaber and Sonia Sirletti.
(Updates with Italian minister’s quote from eighth paragraph.)
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