Following the surprise entry of the major Italian bank Unicredit, Germany does not want to sell any more Commerzbank shares for the time being. This was decided by the responsible steering committee in Berlin, as the Federal Finance Agency announced. This also includes any share buybacks by Commerzbank.
Commerzbank AG is a stable and profitable institution, the statement said. “Its strategy is geared towards independence.” The federal government will support this until further notice by maintaining its stake.
Since the financial crisis, the federal government has been Commerzbank’s largest shareholder. However, it had begun to sell shares. Unicredit recently took advantage of the gradual exit to make a surprise, large-scale investment in the DAX-listed company. The Italians now hold nine percent of the shares, while the federal government holds twelve percent. This led to criticism of the federal government, which was apparently taken by surprise by Unicredit’s entry.
At the end of June, Commerzbank reported that it had around 38,700 full-time positions worldwide, including more than 25,000 in Germany.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240920-930-238657/1
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