In the midst of a merger controversy, Commerzbank has announced a change of its leadership. Bettina Orlop is said to succeed Manfred Knof as the bank’s CEO. This news comes days after Unicredit’s announcement about increasing their stakes in the bank from around 9% to 21%, subject to official approval.
Bettina Orlop has been with Commerzbank since 2014 and has served on its board since 2017. Previously the Chief Financial Officer, Orlop’s appointment as CEO comes in the wake of UniCredit’s recent announcement to increase its stake in the bank’s shares, indicating a merger shortly.
The bank’s management, employees, and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have all expressed opposition to this move, indicating heavy job cuts and a lack of financial aid for small and medium-level businesses. Some people’s concerns are about Unicredit’s secret moves for the merger and this has angered some of them too.
Earlier this month, Unicredit had 4.5% of shares in Commerzbank. On Monday, they announced that Unicredit has taken over 21% of shares in the bank.
“Unfriendly attacks, hostile takeovers are not a good thing for banks, and that is why the German government has clearly positioned itself in this direction,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier this week.
UniCredit will only pursue a deal with Commerzbank if it has support from all stakeholders and conditions are right, its CEO Andrea Orcel said on Wednesday, adding the bank could just sell its stake.
“Commerzbank, for us at the moment, is an investment, nothing else. There is no offer, there is no bid,” Orcel told at the Bank of America investor conference in London. “We’re indeed a large shareholder, a strategic shareholder now, but it is an investment … and people should comment and think about that as an investment and nothing else,” he said when asked about Scholz’s response.