Andrea Orcel, Executive Director of Unicredit, in London, the United Kingdom, on Thursday, November 23, 2023.
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Unicredit’s CEO, Andrea Orcel, told CNBC on Wednesday that the price of the acquisition price of shares Trade It is currently too prohibitively expensive for a merger agreement.
Unicredit has created a surprise participation in Commerzbank of 28% since September through derivatives and has the authorization of the European Central Bank to maintain up to 29.9% in the lender.
When Annette Weisbach, from CNBC, asked if the Italian Bank would proceed with a Premium acquisition offer to the current participation value of Commerzbank, Orcel said: “In this [share] Level, we would not see value for our investors. Actually, we would not do it, we are very happy for the profit we have had in the 30[% stake]But we would not see value for our investors. “
The actions of the German Bank, which has fought against the spectrum of an acquisition since September, have increased 76% in the year to date, benefiting from a broader concentration of German actions after the Berlin pivot to relax some fiscal rules and facilitate a greater expense in defense earlier this year.
Orcel stressed that Unicredit is currently “far” from a merger offer with Commerzbank and first would seek a “constructive solution” to the opposition of the German government.
“Secondly, in our opinion, the price of the shares has gone far beyond the foundations. There is a lot of activity that is aimed at maintaining the price of the shares at a higher level than it sees every day, but we are patients,” said Orcel.
CNBC has communicated with Commerzbank to comment. The German bank recorded better results than expected in the first quarter, when net profits increased by 29%per year.
Orcel insisted that his bank was initially invited to offer for Commerzbank, however, the Unicredit game has encountered continuous resistance of both the German lender and the Berlin administration, under both the previous coalition of Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz’s current government.
More recently, in a letter translated into Yandex that is addressed to Commerzbank personnel, Merz said that “a uncoordinated and hostile approach like Unicredit’s is unacceptable,” and added that the Berlin administration is “depending on a strong and independent trade bank.”
Since the end of last year, Unicredit has divided between two potential hostile acquisition fronts, which also faces the opposition for its simultaneous acquisition offer for Italy BPM Bank. When asked about the possible intentions of creating an extensive empire throughout the European banking sector, Orcel compared Unicredit with the “private solution” to a European banking union.
However, the courtship of the bank of his domestic partner has also plunged into obstacles. The Italian authorities have granted a suspension of one month to the offer at the request of Unicredit, which has cited the need to respond to the use of Rome of its “gold powers” in this transaction. Such powers allow the government to intervene in certain transactions on national security concerns.
Italian and European regulators have particularly advocated the withdrawal of Unicredit de Russia, which remains low European financial sanctions of wide eye for their war in Ukraine. Orcel made the opacity that surrounds the government’s expectations about the participation of Unicredit in Russia on Wednesday.
“There is a debate about definitions. There is a debate about what it means [to] Cease activity in Russia, for example. In our opinion, we have ceased. We have not granted any new loans from [20]21, “he said.
The lack of clarity could leave Unicredit exposed to exorbitant sanctions of around 20 billion euros, ORCEL said, throwing a shadow about the attractiveness of BPM Bank.
“This is a risk that we cannot run. So, if the government clarifies, or if we clarify with the government those [requirements] And they are how we believe they are, I think there is a good probability [we] will continue [the Banco BPM takeover process]. If we do not reach that, we will go back and move on, “he said.
