Overview

• Unicredit has regulatory approval to raise its Commerzbank stake to 29.9%, just below the 30% threshold triggering a mandatory public takeover offer.
• CEO Andrea Orcel wrote to Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil requesting a fact-based meeting to advocate his proposal for a full acquisition.
• The German government, Commerzbank management and supervisory board deputy Sascha Uebel have urged Unicredit to abandon its bid over concerns about the bank’s autonomy and potential job cuts.
• Verdi union leader Frank Werneke dismissed Orcel’s job preservation assurances by pointing to two-thirds of positions lost after the 2005 Hypo-Vereinsbank takeover.
• Unicredit remains an observer investor while retaining options to exercise full shareholder rights as a potential 30% stakeholder.