UniCredit Says It Controls Nearly Half of Commerzbank Following Takeover Push — 2nd Update

By Aimee Look and Joshua Kirby

UniCredit increased its stake in Commerzbank to close to half following a takeover bid that values the bank at some 42 billion euros ($47.8 billion).

The Italian lender said Wednesday that it secured 17.6% of the bank's shares in a tender offer, taking its stake in Commerzbank to 47.6% when combined with its existing direct stake and another smaller stake to which it has economic rights.

UniCredit, Commerzbank's largest investor, in March launched an all-share offer that at the time valued the target at around 35 billion euros, but now values it at around 41.9 billion euros, based on UniCredit's share price Wednesday. A successful takeover would mark the biggest banking deal in Europe since the 2008-09 crisis.

"The completion of the tender offer periods represents a further step in the execution of UniCredit's strategic investment in Commerzbank," UniCredit said.

In a statement, Commerzbank said it remained open to constructive dialogue with UniCredit. According to the German bank there was a low number of shares tendered by institutional and retail investors--less than 2%.

"The low acceptance rate among independent shareholders is clear evidence of the low attractiveness of the offer," Commerzbank said.

A move by UniCredit to take control of Commerzbank would require approval from the European Central Bank, which supervises the eurozone's financial institutions.

Italy's second-largest lender by assets began its long courtship of Commerzbank in 2024, when it announced a 9% stake in its smaller German rival. The bank raised its stake successively before making its approach official in March. UniCredit Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said at the time the move was a gambit to force dialogue with Commerzbank management, and that he didn't expect many shareholders to accept the offer.

A merger of the two banks would be the biggest banking deal in Europe since 2007's ill-fated $101 billion takeover of Dutch lender ABN Amro by a consortium including Royal Bank of Scotland and Spain's Banco Santander.

Still, European banks have shown more appetite for deal-making recently. Spain's BBVA in 2024 made an ultimately unsuccessful hostile bid for smaller peer Banco de Sabadell, while last month a bidding war erupted in Italy for control of Banca Monte dei Paschi, with Intesa Sanpaolo and Banco BPM both moving for their smaller peer. UniCredit last year dropped a takeover bid for BPM amid opposition from the target and conditions imposed by the Italian government.

Commerzbank management has been vocally opposed to a takeover by the bank's Italian suitor, arguing that the offer price is too low.

The German government, Commerzbank's second-largest shareholder, has also voiced opposition. The government took a 25% stake to bail the lender out amid the 2008 financial crash. It has since cut its shareholding to below 13% but postponed plans to offload it entirely in light of UniCredit's stake-building.

The German finance ministry, which manages the participation, has said it supports Commerzbank's independence, and underlined the lender's role in the German economy.

Write to Aimee Look at aimee.look@wsj.com and to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 08, 2026 05:36 ET (09:36 GMT)