Commerzbank to resume talks with UniCredit in potential pan-European deal

By Tom Sims and Valentina Za

FRANKFURT, July 31 (Reuters) - Commerzbank's CEO Bettina Orlopp has told employees that there will be further talks with UniCredit about a potential tie-up as the Italian lender nears control in its €45 billion ($51.80 billion) hostile takeover approach.

The announcement, made to staff on the bank's intranet and seen by Reuters, marks a significant turn in the months-long wrangling over control of one of Germany's largest lenders.

Orlopp and her management team have long been opposed to a tie-up. There have been several rounds of talks in past months, but they have all fizzled out in disagreement.

"In the weeks and months ahead, Commerzbank and UniCredit will engage in discussions to determine, step by step, how to move forward," Orlopp told employees in the internal post on Thursday.

She said a goal was to strengthen the bank's systemic relevance to Germany, and "we intend to keep it that way".

Handelsblatt first reported the statements.

A representative for UniCredit declined to comment. UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel has recently said he wanted to negotiate with the German government and employees, talks that would sidestep Commerzbank management.

The German Finance Ministry, which oversees a 12% stake the German government has held since Commerzbank's bailout during the global financial crisis, also declined to comment.

UniCredit invested in Commerzbank in September 2024, launching a nearly two-year tug-of-war that pitted Italy's and Germany's No. 2 banks against each other. UniCredit has since built a 48% stake in its rival.

German opposition to Orcel's overtures has been widespread, underscoring the difficulty of merging large ​banks across euro zone countries despite policymakers wanting more tie-ups to compete with bigger U.S. rivals.

"The German federal government, employee representatives, and our supervisory board have all made clear that they now expect UniCredit to engage with Commerzbank constructively," Orlopp said.

"And I think UniCredit is ready for that, too. Because without dialogue, there can be no value creation."

($1 = 0.8688 euros)

(Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Miranda Murray and Tomasz Janowski)