(Bloomberg) -- German labor union Ver.di urged the country’s government to stop selling shares in Commerzbank AG and block any potential acquisition of the lender by Italy’s UniCredit SpA.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner must “oppose a looming takeover of Commerzbank by UniCredit,” Frank Werneke, who leads the union, said in a statement on Wednesday. “The federal government can’t sell any further shares in Commerzbank. The state’s stake in Commerzbank has to be maintained to prevent a takeover.”
The Italian bank snapped up a 4.5% stake in Commerzbank that the German government sold on Tuesday, adding to a further 4.5% holding it had acquired on the market. UniCredit said it plans to enter into talks with the German lender, raising the possibility of a deal that could reshape Europe’s banking landscape.
“Financial decisions play a decisive role in supporting the economy and maintaining domestic jobs,” Werneke said. “That can only be done with strong banks in the country. This has to be maintained.”
UniCredit already owns a large bank in Germany known as HypoVereinsbank, which competes with Commerzbank.
When UniCredit agreed to buy HypoVereinsbank in 2005, it announced thousands of job cuts afterwards.
“We do not need another disaster like the one we saw at HypoVereinsbank,” said Stefan Wittmann, a Ver.di official who sits on Commerzbank’s board of directors. “We do not need Italians to come in and wind up traditional German banks.”
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