(Bloomberg) -- The German government reiterated its opposition to any takeover of Commerzbank AG while indicating its powers to intervene are limited.
Commerzbank should remain independent as it’s “very important” for Europe’s biggest economy, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s chief spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said Wednesday at the regular government news conference in Berlin.
Asked if Germany would try to thwart a hostile attempt to swallow the lender, Hebestreit said: “There are no further considerations to fend off anything” beyond the government’s decision to stop selling more shares in Commerzbank for now.
Germany has been sharpening its rhetoric in favor of Commerzbank independence ever since rival UniCredit SpA started building a stake this month. The rapid increase in the Italian bank’s holding and the way it was acquired wrongfooted officials in Berlin.
“The style of UniCredit’s approach has surprised us, has raised questions and has not strengthened confidence” in the Italian bank, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Wednesday during regular government questions in the lower house of parliament.
For his part, UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel has said that German officials were aware of his intentions and shouldn’t have been surprised when he bought the 4.5% stake in Commerzbank the government offloaded. He has responded to German criticism by portraying the move as a “test case” for European banking integration.
Deputy German Finance Minister Florian Toncar said earlier Wednesday the government wants the “greatest possible independence” for the country’s second-biggest listed lender.
“We are in the process of considering how we can find a solution that is good for Commerzbank and very good for the federal government, while respecting Commerzbank’s independence,” Toncar told reporters in Berlin.
He was speaking after attending a hearing of parliament’s finance committee, where lawmakers requested information about the government’s sale of part of its Commerzbank holding.
Toncar said UniCredit’s approach “was very much based on surprise, which unsettles many stakeholders who are important to Commerzbank.”
“That is why it is not wise to proceed too aggressively with a large, regulated and highly complex bank,” he added.
“In the end, you need the stakeholders and there has been a lot of concern in recent days and weeks, to which the government has reacted by positioning itself regarding further share sales, also against a takeover and in favor of independence.”
--With assistance from Christoph Rauwald.
(Updates with comments from Scholz spokesman starting in first paragraph.)
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