MILAN (ITALPRESS) – UniCredit has announced the launch of a voluntary public exchange offer that deals with the actions Commerzbank. The offer is aimed at overcoming the threshold of 30% provided for by the German legislation on public procurement and, in the coming weeks, promoting a constructive comparison with Commerzbank and its main stakeholders. UniCredit is expected to reach a stake in Commerzbank more than 30%, without however acquiring control. This would allow UniCredit to avoid constantly adjusting its participation in order to remain below the threshold of 30% because of Commerzbank’s ongoing own shares purchase programme, as well as being able to freely increase its share in the market or in other ways. The exchange ratio of the Offer will be determined by BaFin in the next few days on the basis of the average price weighted for the volumes of the last three months of the shares Commerzbank and UniCredit. The report should be equal to 0.485 UniCredit shares for each Commerzbank action, which corresponds to a price of 30.8 euros per share Commerzbank, or a 4% premium compared to the closing price of 13 March.
The offer is expected to be formally launched at the beginning of May, with a four-week membership period. In May an extraordinary assembly will be convened in order to obtain authorization to increase capital at the service of the offer. UniCredit is still waiting for the approval of the 2025 share purchase programme, amounting to 4.75 billion, by the shareholders’ meeting scheduled for 31 March, as well as the relevant authorisation of the ECB. The program of purchase of own shares will be started after the closure of the period of accession to the offer and will depend on the final level of allocations to the same. There is no impact on UniCredit’s dividend policy. If, as expected, UniCredit does not acquire control of Commerzbank, the financial impact on the capital will be minimal. The Cda believes that the offer represents a reasonable and pragmatic measure, without disadvantages, taking into account that the participation held continues to represent a significant creation of value, regardless of whether or not the threshold of 30% through the offer.
– photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
