Commerzbank board member warns of important activity losses with a adversarial UniCredit takeover

Two-thirds of the roles at Commerzbank may just disappear if UniCredit effectively carries out a adversarial takeover of the German lender, a Commerzbank supervisory board member warned on Tuesday.

Stefan Wittmann, who could also be a senior reputable at German industry union Verdi, advised CNBC’s Annette Weisbach that “we certainly hope we can avoid” a adversarial takeover via the Italian reserve. Witmann stated Commerzbank’s board had known as at the German govt to hold out an inside evaluate of the imaginable takeover, which he hopes will give the reserve a six-month length to hurry retain of the condition.

“But if it [a hostile takeover] is unavoidable, we think that two-thirds of jobs will disappear, that there will be another significant cut in the branches,” he stated, in step with a translation.

“We will see in particular that UniCredit does not want all Commerzbank customers at all, but that it focuses on the supposedly best customers, namely the wealthy customers,” he added.

Berlin, which used to be the biggest shareholder of Commerzbank nearest it injected 18.2 billion euros ($20.2 billion) to rescue the lender all over the 2008 monetary extremity, is more likely to play games a key function in any possible merger between the banks.

“We are actually concerned with our economic and industrial responsibility. As far as the workforce is concerned, which trade unions are of course particularly focused on, they would always lose out in the merger, regardless of the point in time,” Wittmann stated. The reserve has but to answer a request for touch upon Wittmann’s statements.

UniCredit introduced Monday it had increased its stake in the German lender to round 21% and submitted a request to spice up that preserving to as much as 29.9%, signaling a takeover bid could be within the playing cards. Previous this presen, the Italian reserve took a 9% stake in Commerzbank, confirming that part of this shareholding used to be bought from the German govt.

UniCredit believes really extensive price may also be unlocked inside Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest lender, nevertheless it stated that additional motion is needed for that price to be “crystalized.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized UniCredit’s exit on Monday, announcing, “unfriendly attacks, hostile takeovers are not a good thing for banks and that is why the German government has clearly positioned itself in this direction,” Reuters reported.

Commerzbank’s supervisory board is because of meet this day to talk about UniCredit’s stake, community usual with the subject who requested to stay nameless previously told CNBC.

Wittmann stated the temper is recently “very tense” inside the corporate, including that the reserve used to be stunned via UniCredit’s announcement on Monday, which he described as a “180 degree-turn within 48 hours.”

“[UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel] last spoke on Friday that he wanted a friendly takeover in agreement with all stakeholders and politicians. And yesterday we were surprised by his hostile takeover attempt. That doesn’t add up,” Wittmann stated.

The supervisory board member defined that the 2 primary causes to treat a possible merger in a essential shiny are the shortage of a banking union in Europe, and the truth that UniCredit has “absorbed itself with Italian government bonds in recent years.”

He wondered what would possibly occur must geopolitical tensions or “upheavals” affect UniCredit’s availability of capital to finance Commerzbank’s business.

In line with the 2008 monetary extremity, the Eu Fee introduced plans to build a banking union to strengthen the legislation and supervision of banks around the area.

Economist and previous Eu Central Storage Governor Mario Draghi flagged in a up to date report that banks in Europe face regulatory hurdles which “constrain their capacity to lend,” additionally mentioning the “incomplete” banking union as one issue that affects competitiveness for the area’s banks.

“We have always spoken out, including as employee representatives on the Supervisory Board, that there can and should be mergers at [a] European level, but only when the banking union is in place. And that is just our second point of criticism, that we say: create the rules of the game and the guardrails first, and then do it sensibly when it is clear which playing field we are on,” Wittmann stated.