The German government should hold onto its Commerzbank (CBKG.DE) share and reflect calmly on the situation, the German lender's finance chief said on Tuesday.
UniCredit (CRDI.MI) bought last week a 9% stake in one of Germany's largest banks but Berlin still owns a 12% stake in the lender.
"We have all been very surprised by the process," CFO Bettina Orlopp told journalists at a startup summit in Berlin. "That's why the most important thing now is simply to sort it out calmly, to think about what's on the table now and how to deal with it."
The bank is "on an excellent path," according to its CFO, expecting another record year in 2024.
All the options on the table must be evaluated from the perspective of all stakeholders: shareholders, customers and employees, the CFO said.
Asked about the potential synergies of merging with an European partner, Orlopp declined to comment.
