Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Thursday he would not want UniCredit (CRDI.MI) to shift its legal base to Germany as part of a possible deal with Commerzbank (CBKG.DE), and that Rome was still considering its position on a tie-up.
UniCredit this month said it had bought a 9% stake in Commerzbank and later raised its holding to about 21%, conditional on European Central Bank approval, using derivative instruments. It wants to buy more shares and has pressed for discussions to explore a tie-up, in the most ambitious attempt yet at a pan-European bank merger.
"I cannot say that the government would oppose it, we are considering various hypotheses, but I would not be in favour," Salvini told a news conference in Rome, making clear he wanted UniCredit to keep its central functions in Italy, confirming an earlier Reuters report.
"We are looking at a discussion between private players", said Salvini, leader of the co-ruling League party in Giorgia Meloni's right-wing coalition, adding the Italian government was still considering its position.
Earlier on Thursday, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said in Brussels a potential deal between the two banks would be "good" and it was important to have banks with a "supranational and European dimension."
The group stemming from a UniCredit-Commerzbank merger would have almost 60% of its customer loans in Germany, according to Reuters calculations.
Sources said last week UniCredit would seek supervisory approval to potentially acquire up to 30% of Commerzbank.
While the Italian government has so far kept a cautious stance on the issue, the potential takeover has sparked tensions in Germany where Commerzbank's management, employees and the nation's chancellor, Olaf Scholz, have all voiced opposition.
A previous attempt by former UniCredit CEO Jean Pierre Mustier to move on Commerzbank met with political opposition in Italy due to plans to create a German holding company to lead the bank's business.
Italian politicians have traditionally looked with concern at cross-border mergers of their lenders due to the role they play in supporting the Treasury in refinancing the country’s nearly 3 trillion euro public debt.
($1 = 0.8979 euros)
