UniCredit Raises Aggregate Commerzbank Position to Around 21% via New Financial Instruments

UniCredit has increased its aggregate economic position in Commerzbank to approximately 21%, the Italian bank disclosed in a price-sensitive announcement on 23 September. The total comprises a direct shareholding of 9% that UniCredit already holds in the German lender, combined with an additional exposure of roughly 11.5% built through newly entered financial instruments. Converting those instruments into a direct stake above 9.9% requires regulatory approval, which UniCredit has not yet obtained.

UniCredit first revealed its Commerzbank stake earlier in September. UniCredit stated that the majority of its economic position is hedged, providing full optionality to retain, increase, or sell its exposure depending on how commercial and regulatory circumstances develop.

REGULATORY APPROVAL

UniCredit's ability to convert the financial instruments into an outright shareholding, and thereby accumulate a direct stake materially above the 9.9% threshold, is conditional on clearance from European banking regulators, including the European Central Bank in its capacity as the prudential supervisor of significant institutions in the eurozone.

While the instruments remain unsettled, UniCredit holds an economic interest in the additional 11.5% exposure but does not exercise the voting rights that would attach to a direct shareholding of that size.

GERMAN GOVERNMENT POSITION AND NEXT STEPS

Commerzbank remains partly state-owned following its bailout during the financial crisis. The German government, which said on 20 September it would not sell further shares for now, opposes a hostile takeover, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticised UniCredit's move as an unfriendly attack.

UniCredit did not provide a timeline for any further steps in its announcement, although it said it had applied for regulatory approval to hold up to 29.9% of Commerzbank.