© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Manfred Knof, Chairman of the Board of Managing Administrators Commerzbank speaks on the inventory trade in Frankfurt, Germany, February 27, 2023. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Picture
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Commerzbank Chief Government Manfred Knof on Tuesday performed down prospects of a attainable merger with bigger rival Deutsche Financial institution, saying such a tie-up was not underneath dialogue at his financial institution and he was striving to maintain the financial institution unbiased.
The feedback come amid heightened hypothesis that merger talks with Deutsche – which failed in 2019 – might as soon as once more come to the fore.
“So I feel that is at all times a subject extra for journalists and the media – however not for us,” he advised Reuters when requested a few attainable tie-up with Deutsche on the sidelines of a convention organized by Die Welt.
The CEO’s feedback, the primary identified public statements on the matter, comply with his counterpart at Deutsche, CEO Christian Stitching, who advised CNBC final week that mergers and acquisitions weren’t a precedence for him this yr.
Knof joined Commerzbank (ETR:) in 2021 and instantly put Germany’s No. 2 lender by way of a radical overhaul, slashing hundreds of jobs and tons of of branches to revive profitability.
All of the whereas, he had harassed that he aimed to maintain the financial institution unbiased, a stance he maintained on Tuesday.
He mentioned Commerzbank prospects needed an unbiased financial institution financing their actions.
When requested whether or not independence for him additionally meant that Commerzbank might function as a German enterprise of a worldwide financial institution, Knof mentioned: “Independence implies that we’re an unbiased financial institution and that we now have the liberty to behave, which is within the pursuits of our prospects.”
The German state is Commerzbank’s largest shareholder, with a stake of greater than 15% that dates again to a bailout in the course of the monetary disaster. The way forward for that stake has helped gas discuss of a possible deal.
In an emailed assertion final week, a German finance ministry spokesperson mentioned no resolution had been made on the federal government exiting its Commerzbank stake.
Individually, Knof sounded a cautious notice on the financial system, saying German firms have been resilient however that there was “no recognisable dynamic within the financial system”.
