UniCredit CEO does not rule out improving terms of Commerzbank bid

MILAN, March 18 (Reuters) – UniCredit <CRDI.MI> Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said on Wednesday he did not rule out improving the terms of the bank’s bid for Commerzbank if merger discussions produced a positive outcome, adding that such a scenario was very remote.

UniCredit on Monday launched a takeover bid for Commerzbank, saying it did not want to gain control of the rival but to trigger tie-up discussions.

Speaking at a Morgan Stanley conference in London, Orcel said the chief aim of the bid was to break the paralysis that ensued after UniCredit’s initial acquisition of a stake in the rival in September 2024 sparked a backlash in Germany.

“For us the main purpose of this offer is to break the stalemate. The situation in which we have all been in the last 18 months or thereabout is suboptimal for everybody,” Orcel said.

UniCredit expects the offer – which offers a narrow 4% premium – to only slightly lift its stake in Commerzbank, which currently stands at just below 30% when including a portion held through derivative contracts.

Orcel said the terms of the bid could be improved if a dialogue led to “an outcome that all stakeholders feel comfortable with” and UniCredit’s concerns “in terms of areas where we would need to prepare for plugging in gaps” were addressed.

“On that basis, could we review the terms of the offer, which then would become something completely different? … Of course we can,” he said.

“At the moment… this is not a scenario that we are considering,” he added.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Gavin Jones)