Commerzbank Rejects UniCredit's Hostile Bid, Upholds Standalone Strategy

Commerzbank has rejected UniCredit's ongoing hostile approach, emphasizing the strength of its standalone strategy. The German bank dismisses UniCredit's restructuring proposal as speculative, lacking a credible plan for value creation. Despite aggressive attempts, UniCredit has not offered a premium for control, undermining shareholder value.

Commerzbank maintains confidence in its Momentum strategy, which has delivered record profits in 2025 with €4.5 billion in operating profit. The bank plans to outline its financial targets and 2030 strategy on 8 May 2026. Commerzbank criticizes UniCredit's tactics, highlighting the absence of a substantive combination plan, which remains vague and back-end loaded.

UniCredit's approach is seen as undermining essential stakeholder trust in banking. Commerzbank continues to stand by its independent path, citing limited execution risk in comparison to cross-border mergers.