UniCredit does not rule out improving its offer for Commerzbank

UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel does not rule out improving the terms of the Italian bank's takeover bid for German bank Commerzbank if merger talks lead to a positive outcome, but added that such a scenario is very remote, Reuters reports, according to Agerpres.

UniCredit presented a takeover bid worth 35 billion euros for Commerzbank on Monday, but said it did not want to gain control of the German bank, but to trigger merger talks.

Yesterday, Orcel said the terms of the offer could be improved if a dialogue leads to "an outcome that all stakeholders feel comfortable with" and if UniCredit's concerns "regarding the areas in which we should prepare to close the gaps" were addressed. "On that basis could we revise the terms of the offer, which would then become something completely different? ... Of course we can,” the UniCredit boss told a conference organised by Morgan Stanley, adding: "Currently, this is not a scenario that we are considering.”

Earlier, Commerzbank CEO Bettina Orlopp complained that UniCredit had failed to present Germany's second-largest bank with a detailed proposal and was keeping Commerzbank in the dark about its vision for a merger.

"For us, the main purpose of this offer is to break the deadlock. The objective is to open a 12-week window of engagement and dialogue and to put all the cards on the table,” Orcel replied, adding: "Ideally, this would lead to a common plan that we can all support or, at least, reduce the level of misunderstanding and anxiety that everyone has by misinterpreting each other's intentions.”

Italian banking group UniCredit expects the offer to lead to a slight increase in its stake in Commerzbank, which currently stands at just under 30%. Under German capital market rules, if UniCredit's stake in Commerzbank exceeds 30%, the threshold at which it must launch a takeover bid, the Italian bank is free to buy Commerzbank shares on the open market.

Regardless of the outcome of the offer, UniCredit will be more vocal in the future as Commerzbank's main investor. "There is one thing that will change, because this is the position that we have taken at the board level... we will be much more public, much more proactive... about what we want, and why we want it,” Orcel stressed.

UniCredit is a pan-European commercial bank with a service offering in Italy, Germany, Central and Eastern Europe.