Overview
- Unicredit announced on Friday that acceptances from its exchange offer plus prior holdings lift its stake to about 39.3 percent and that options and other instruments raise its effective position to roughly 42.5–43.3 percent.
- The exchange offer remains open through July 3, with Unicredit expecting to publish final results on July 8 and to press for shareholder support at the annual meeting if needed.
- Commerzbank’s board continues to advise shareholders to reject the current swap because it offers no adequate cash premium, while saying it will talk only if Unicredit presents a genuinely attractive price and safeguards for Commerzbank’s business model.
- The company has notified the regulator BaFin and the Commerzbank works council has filed a criminal complaint alleging possible market manipulation; Unicredit denies the accusations and has warned it could seek new board leadership with enough shareholder backing.
- The German federal government has repeated that it will not sell its roughly 12 percent stake and publicly rejects the proposal, raising the political barrier to any takeover and keeping Frankfurt’s banking role and jobs central to the debate.