Germany to hold on to Commerzbank stake as lender aims for independence By Reuters
By Tom Sims and Christian Kraemer
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany will not be able to sell any more shares in Commerzbank (ETR:) for now and the bank's strategy is “directed towards independence,” the country's Finance Agency said on Friday.
The statement comes days after Italian bank UniCredit announced it had bought a 9% stake in Commerzbank – from the German government and on the open market – and its chief said it wanted to explore the merger.
The German government, which still owns 12% of Commerzbank, will play a major role in whether a deal is possible.
However, last week trade unions and Commerzbank management urged the government to stop any sale of shares.
The Finance Agency, which is part of Germany's finance ministry and is in charge of public administration, said at a meeting on Friday that it had decided “it will not, until further notice, sell any more shares”.
Commerzbank and UniCredit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Commerzbank is a stable and profitable institution. The bank's strategy is aimed at independence. The Federal Government will comply with this until further notice by maintaining ownership of the shares,” said the agency.
This means that the government's plan is now for its shares in Commerzbank to be higher than what was agreed during the share sale last week, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
