(Bloomberg) -- Commerzbank AG appointed Bettina Orlopp to replace departing Chief Executive Officer Manfred Knof, as it contends with a possible takeover approach from rival UniCredit SpA.
The German lender said in a statement Tuesday that it is aiming for a transition to take place “in the near future.” A person familiar with the matter said that would take place in the coming days or weeks.
Orlopp, 54, had been viewed as the favorite candidate to succeed Knof, although the bank also vetted external candidates with the help of headhunter Egon Zehnder, Bloomberg News has reported. Orlopp had already shown interest in the top job four years ago and has won praise from investors, customers and employees for managing the group’s finances.
“While we have a strategy that is effective, significant tasks lie ahead,” Orlopp said in the statement. “Together with all our key partners, we will navigate through the challenges ahead of us successfully.”
Commerzbank had accelerated the search for a new CEO as it prepares to respond to a surprise move by UniCredit, which this month disclosed that it built an effective stake of 21% in Commerzbank and indicated it may seek a merger. Knof — who is 59 and joined the lender as CEO at the start of 2021 — announced just before the stake sale was made public that he won’t seek another term when his contract runs out at the end of next year.
Orlopp is a former McKinsey & Co consultant who started at Commerzbank in 2014 as an executive responsible for group development and strategy. Three years later she became the first woman on the bank’s management board, initially in charge of compliance, human resource and legal matters. She took on the role CFO in 2020.
The announcement of the bank’s first-ever female boss came as Commerzbank’s management board on Tuesday presented its strategy update to the bank’s supervisory board as part of a regular annual strategy planning event.
Commerzbank is exploring a potential defense after Italian rival UniCredit disclosed its stake. The German government, which still owns 12% of Commerzbank after a bailout in the financial crisis, opposes such a deal.
Strategic Options
Germany’s second-largest listed lender said on Monday that it had “taken note” of UniCredit’s most recent move to increase its holding in the German bank to 21% after entering into derivatives contracts on Monday to raise its stake, adding that it would examine strategic options in the interests of its stakeholders including investors, customers and employees.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has lashed out at Unicredit, calling the bank’s move “inappropriate” and an “unfriendly attack.” The German government has said that it won’t sell any more shares in Commerzbank. “The bank’s strategy is geared toward independence,” it said on Friday.
Labor representatives have also been vocal in their criticism, saying they fear that two-thirds of Commerzbank’s jobs would be at risk, citing a similar development at German lender HypoVereinsbank, or HVB, which UniCredit bought two decades ago.
Commerzbank’s statement also noted that Michael Kotzbauer, who’s responsible for the lender’s corporate clients, has been appointed as deputy CEO. Both Orlopp and Kotzbauer will receive five-year contracts upon entering their new positions.
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