UniCredit’s Orcel Surprised by German Backlash Over Commerzbank

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(Bloomberg) — UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel said he was surprised by the backlash in Germany over his efforts to acquire Commerzbank AG, saying his bank was invited to bid and communicated with all sides.

Over the past two-and-a-half years, Orcel had multiple meetings with the German government and Commerzbank leadership, he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Francine Lacqua at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Commerzbank was the first call we had in the morning to debrief” after the Italian lender acquired a large stake last year, he said. “From there, it moved to surprise. Well, imagine ours, and then it moved to hostility or to opaqueness.”

Orcel has struggled to win support from Commerzbank and the government in Berlin for a potential takeover, after UniCredit acquired a significant holding, partly by using a state placement in September to buy the entire 4.5% on offer. That move came as a surprise to some officials in Berlin, who had expected to sell the shares to various institutional investors instead.

“We were invited, actually, by the government, as the only strategic to buy their stake,” Orcel said. “We were the best bid, and we were asked to bid again at a premium to what we had offered in order to get the entire stake.”

Given the backlash, Orcel has said he’s in no rush to decide what to do with UniCredit’s Commerzbank stake. The German government is likely to get replaced in federal elections slated for Feb. 23, potentially affording Orcel a fresh opportunity to persuade officials in Berlin that a takeover of Commerzbank is a good idea.

“Given that the emotions are what they are, let’s wait for elections,” Orcel said. “Let’s wait for things to calm down, and then let’s have an opportunity to, instead of talk about perceptions, talk about facts, talk about figures, talk about the merit of the deal.”

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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