(Bloomberg) -- The last time Andrea Orcel was involved in a major deal for UniCredit SpA in Germany, he was 42.
Working at Merrill Lynch & Co in 2005, Orcel advised the Italian bank on its €19.2 billion takeover of HVB Group, Europe’s biggest-ever cross-border banking takeover at the time.
Read the story from 2005: Merrill Among Banks Sharing $50 Million on UniCredito-HVB Deal
Now 61 and running UniCredit as chief executive officer, Orcel has returned to German bank consolidation with a move on Commerzbank AG, building a 9% stake in the country’s second-biggest listed lender.
That career trajectory underlines the outsized role Orcel has played in European — and German — banking over the past two decades. After stints as head of investment banking at UBS Group AG and a botched move to lead Banco Santander SA, he fulfilled his dream of running a major lender when he took the helm at UniCredit in 2021 — a company he also helped shape in its current form as young investment banker.
Read also: UniCredit Turns to Its Creator Orcel to Revamp Italian Bank
Still a consummate dealmaker, the Commerzbank move brings Orcel full circle. Whatever happens next, he will have something to celebrate. UniCredit is already sitting on a paper gain on its Commerzbank stake after its shares spiked on the news.
--With assistance from Frank Connelly.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
