UniCredit has acquired approximately 9% of Commerzbank, the Italian bank confirmed on 11 September 2024. The position was assembled through two channels: a 4.49% stake purchased directly from the German federal government via an accelerated book-building process, with the remainder accumulated through transactions in the open market.
The German government sold a portion of its Commerzbank holding through an accelerated book-building, a process that typically concludes within a single trading session.
POSSIBLE FILING TO EXCEED 9.9%
UniCredit said at the time of the announcement that it would, if and when necessary, submit filings for regulatory authorisation to potentially increase its holding beyond the 9.9% threshold that would otherwise require prior supervisory consent under European banking rules.
Commerzbank has been partially state-owned since the 2008 financial crisis, when the German government injected capital to stabilise the institution during a period of severe market stress.
UniCredit has not publicly articulated a specific end-goal for its Commerzbank position, describing the current shareholding as consistent with its strategy without committing to a particular outcome.