UniCredit’s Orcel Renews Commerzbank Merger Push, Faces German Opposition

UniCredit Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel has revived his campaign to merge the Italian lender with Germany’s Commerzbank, writing on 18 June to Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil to press for formal talks. In the letter, Orcel argued that a combination would create “a new national banking champion” capable of supporting the German economy and urged Berlin to engage directly despite earlier resistance. UniCredit accumulated a 28 percent stake in Commerzbank last year and has approval from the European Central Bank to lift its holding to 29.9 percent. Orcel told the German leaders that political authorities could determine the headquarters of a merged group and pledged to keep Commerzbank’s branch network intact, with lending decisions remaining locally controlled. Berlin has so far declined to open negotiations, and Commerzbank’s management continues to favour independence. The finance ministry confirmed receipt of Orcel’s letter and said Klingbeil referred the matter back to Commerzbank’s board. UniCredit maintains that a merger remains the optimal solution but says it is willing to explore other arrangements if a full deal proves unattainable.