Italy's UniCredit said Tuesday it was able to increase its stake in Commerzbank to 34.4 percent as its hostile takeover of the German bank heats up.
"UniCredit views the strength of the early tender response as reflective of the inherent value that investors are recognizing in UniCredit’s takeover offer," the Italian bank said in a statement.
UniCredit held a 25 percent stake in Commerzbank before it launched its takeover bid on May 5 and the offer runs until June 16.
Contacted by AFP, Commerzbank declined to comment.
For UniCredit, exceeding the 30 percent threshold of Commerzbank’s share capital will allow it to avoid having to launch a new offer for all of the capital later on.
Even if it does not yet control the German bank at the end of the bid, it would then be able to gradually increase its stake by buying shares on the market, without any new mandatory offer.
"Shares representing approximately 7.6 percent of Commerzbank's share capital have been tendered thus far," UniCredit said on Tuesday.
"In combination with UniCredit’s direct shareholding and the physically settled instruments, this amounts to 34.4 percent and 37.6 percent respectively in the aggregate," it said.
UniCredit will only get the actual shares once the bid deadline has passed.
"These figures represent the only relevant measures for establishing whether UniCredit’s takeover offer is successful," the company said.
After spending over a year building up a stake in Commerzbank, Italy's second-biggest bank last month officially launched a 35-billion-euro ($41 billion) takeover attempt for its German rival.
The offer price is widely seen as too low, but it marks the latest move in the Italian bank's relentless pursuit of Commerzbank which has sparked fury from the lender and top German politicians.
Commerzbank's chief executive Bettina Orlopp was applauded at a shareholder meeting last month as she slammed UniCredit's bid.
Addressing Commerzbank's annual general meeting, she said it was "an attempt to take over Commerzbank at a price that does not properly reflect the fundamental value and potential of our bank".
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has led criticism from German politicians of what he has termed "hostile and aggressive approaches", saying recently that such actions are "how trust is destroyed".
But UniCredit argues that it is trying to create a pan-European banking behemoth that will be better equipped to take on larger US rivals internationally.
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