{"id":76584,"date":"2026-05-07T02:28:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T02:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/76584\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T02:28:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T02:28:22","slug":"berlin-slams-unicredit-for-inappropriate-commerzbank-takeover-offer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/76584\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlin slams UniCredit for &#8216;inappropriate&#8217; Commerzbank takeover offer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/43b98feff3974078ab1a6127ca2f9e5a.jpeg\" alt=\"View of a wall with the Commerzbank logo. (zu dpa: \u00abBerlin slams UniCredit for 'inappropriate' Commerzbank takeover offer\u00bb) Hannes P Albert\/dpa\" loading=\"eager\" height=\"534\" width=\"800\" class=\"yf-lglytj  loaded\"\/> View of a wall with the Commerzbank logo. (zu dpa: \u00abBerlin slams UniCredit for &#8216;inappropriate&#8217; Commerzbank takeover offer\u00bb) Hannes P Albert\/dpa      <\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\">The German government on Wednesday criticized UniCredit over what it called a \u201ccompletely inappropriate and unfair\u201d takeover bid for rival Commerzbank.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\">UniCredit submitted a formal offer for Commerzbank on Tuesday, stepping up months of pressure on the German lender, which has continued to resist the approach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\">The Milan-based bank, which has steadily increased its holding to nearly 30% of Commerzbank shares, is seeking to acquire further stock through a voluntary share-swap offer set to expire on June 16. The offer period could be extended until July 3.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\">Commerzbank\u2019s management, works council and employees have so far opposed what they view as a hostile bid. UniCredit has outlined a restructuring plan in the event of a takeover that could result in around 7,000 full-time job cuts, fuelling concern in Germany.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\">The German government, which still holds a 12% stake in Commerzbank, has also rejected the move. Deputy government spokesman Sebastian Hille described UniCredit\u2019s approach as \u201ccompletely inappropriate and unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\">At the Finance Ministry, a spokesman reiterated Berlin\u2019s support for Commerzbank\u2019s independence, saying a \u201chostile, aggressive takeover\u201d would be unacceptable, particularly given the bank\u2019s status as a systemically important institution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\">\u201cIt is clear to us that Commerzbank plays a vital role in financing the German economy and its small and medium-sized enterprises. It is also a major employer and central to Frankfurt as a financial centre \u2014 and both of these aspects must be safeguarded in the future,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-1fy9kyt\">Asked whether the government could increase its stake in Commerzbank, he declined to comment, describing it as a hypothetical scenario.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"View of a wall with the Commerzbank logo. (zu dpa: \u00abBerlin slams UniCredit for &#8216;inappropriate&#8217; Commerzbank takeover offer\u00bb)&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[112,1894,190,22490],"class_list":{"0":"post-76584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-berlin","8":"tag-berlin","9":"tag-commerzbank","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-unicredit"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116530938351657031","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}