(Sept 26): Italy’s Industry Minister Adolfo Urso backed a potential takeover of Commerzbank AG by Milan-based UniCredit SpA which has threatened to sour relations between Berlin and Rome.
“It’s a good deal,” Urso told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. Large banks that go beyond borders are “important” if we are to have a banking union, which is “what everyone wants,” he said.
Officials in Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration are becoming annoyed with the fact that Berlin has opposed the takeover of Frankfurt-based Commerzbank, while advocating at the same time for more European integration.
UniCredit has built a stake of more than 20% in Commerzbank, partly through derivatives, with chief executive officer Andrea Orcel keeping the option of a full takeover on the table. His moves stunned Berlin, which indicated on Friday that it opposes an acquisition, though officials have since admitted there is little they can do.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has suggested double standards are at play, saying “when someone comes to buy in Italy, they say that we are in a European system — then if an Italian buys, it is no longer a single market.”
Meanwhile Deputy Premier and League Leader Matteo Salvini said Thursday that he would be against moving the bank’s headquarters to Germany. That scenario has yet to be proposed.
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