Frankfurt (Germany) (AFP) – German prosecutors said Friday they had rejected a complaint filed by Commerzbank’s staff over alleged market manipulation by Italy’s UniCredit in its hostile takeover bid for the Frankfurt-based bank. UniCredit is seeking to take over Commerzbank to create a European banking giant, despite fierce resistance from the German lender and the government in Berlin, itself a shareholder in Commerzbank.
In June, a body representing Commerzbank employees filed the complaint, alleging wrongdoing in the way the Italian lender was conducting its bid. The employees had accused UniCredit of artificially inflating acceptance figures for its offer after Commerzbank said it had no evidence of its own institutional investors accepting the offer. That reinforced a “reasonable assumption” that it was “almost exclusively” entities connected to UniCredit that were accepting the offer, Commerzbank said in June.
On Friday, the Frankfurt prosecutors’ office said it had decided not to pursue the complaint after reviewing the matter. “We have declined to initiate a criminal investigation,” the spokeswoman told AFP, adding there was not “sufficient” indication a crime had been committed. UniCredit has previously rejected allegations of malpractice related to its attempted takeover of Commerzbank.
Earlier this week, UniCredit said it had secured an additional 17.6 percent stake in Commerzbank as part of its takeover bid. In total, the Italian bank said it had secured 49.65 percent of Commerzbank voting rights. But Commerzbank said that the acceptance rate among independent shareholders had been “low,” which was “clear evidence of the low attractiveness of the offer.”
After spending months building up its stake in Commerzbank, UniCredit in May launched a 35 billion euros ($41 billion) takeover offer for the bank, widely seen as a cheap price. UniCredit’s pursuit of Commerzbank has sparked a fierce backlash in Germany, where Commerzbank is known for financing the country’s prized network of small and medium-sized industrial champions. Commerzbank has cut thousands of jobs in moves widely seen as a bid to boost shareholder returns and defend its independence against UniCredit’s hostile takeover.
© 2024 AFP
