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MILAN (Reuters) – UniCredit’s funding in German rival Commerzbank (ETR:) laid the premise for the Italian financial institution to have interaction in talks to discover a tie-up, Chief Govt Andrea Orcel mentioned on Thursday.
Chatting with Bloomberg tv a day after UniCredit unveiled a 9% stake in Commerzbank, Orcel mentioned the funding had worth no matter whether or not it led to a merger, however added a mix may create additional worth and that Europe wanted bigger banks.
“It is vitally easy to have interaction with all of the stakeholders and see if the premise for a mix is there,” he mentioned.
“We expect there’s area in Germany, given the fragmentation of the market, so as to add additional worth by consolidating,” he added.
UniCredit has been current in Germany since 2005 when it purchased Bavarian lender HVB.
The Milanese lender had checked out Commerzbank even earlier than the HVB acquisition. Through the years it has repeatedly explored a mix given the associated fee financial savings it may reap due to its German footprint.
Orcel mentioned UniCredit had began shopping for Commerzbank shares available on the market over the summer time as rumours intensified that the German authorities could promote down its 16% stake.
“When the federal government truly determined to do it, and we had been a part of the buyers they known as to purchase their stake, we made a suggestion, the supply was accepted in full and we moved from 4.5% to 9% in a single go,” he mentioned.
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