UniCredit has taken control of German lender Commerzbank, despite fury in Berlin. Now, while attacks on the Italian bank keep coming from Germany, UniCredit appears ready to turn its attention back to Italy.

UniCredit wins Commerzbank, but employees are furious: “We don’t want it”

Commerzbank’s works council sent a letter to employees making clear it wants nothing to do with UniCredit, whose headquarters sit at Piazza Gae Aulenti in Milan:

“We will continue to work with determination to preserve Commerzbank’s independence. One thing remains clear and unchanged: our position is that we neither want nor need UniCredit.”

The council added: “We reject this creeping, unagreed and hostile approach, disguised as a market operation.”

Meanwhile, according to reports, UniCredit is already looking ahead, weighing new moves back home in Italy — the market where CEO Andrea Orcel’s ambitions have so far failed to materialize, as shown by the collapse of UniCredit’s tender offer for Banco BPM, sunk by the strict conditions Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government imposed using Italy’s “golden power” veto rules.

Is Orcel ready to look back to Italy? Is Banco BPM back in his sights?

Still, the failure of that operation hasn’t dampened Orcel’s ambition to pursue “domestic dossiers” too, according to a report published today by business daily MF-Milano Finanza.

The paper noted that UniCredit is among the “most profitable banks in Europe,” pointing to a stock rally of “almost 30% since the end of April,” which has pushed the bank’s market capitalization to nearly €124 billion (roughly $134 billion) — over 1.8 times its book value.

Today’s landscape may in fact be more favorable to Orcel’s ambitions.

With Intesa Sanpaolo having launched a rival all-share and cash tender offer for Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), competing with the merger-of-equals proposal put forward by Banco BPM, MF does not rule out that the Banco BPM dossier could reopen for UniCredit — especially after France’s Crédit Agricole, the largest shareholder in Banco BPM’s parent, Piazza Meda, raised its stake to 29%.

A fresh move on Banco BPM, led by CEO Giuseppe Castagna, “would prevent an important piece of Italy’s financial system from ending up in foreign hands,” the report noted.

Orcel’s strategy: stepping back from one deal to do Crédit Agricole a favor

One option reportedly on the table for Orcel is to withdraw from the race for Banca Popolare di Bari (BdM), effectively doing Crédit Agricole a favor.

The UniCredit chief could then offer an olive branch to the French “Banque Verte” if UniCredit succeeds in taking over Banco BPM, by letting Crédit Agricole absorb part of the merged group’s excess branch network.

On the Commerzbank side, UniCredit announced the final results of its tender offer on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, disclosing that Commerzbank shareholders had tendered shares representing 17.60% of the German lender’s share capital — “a result well beyond initial expectations.”

Combined with the 26.77% stake UniCredit already held directly, plus financial instruments granting rights to a further 3.22%, the bank’s total position in Commerzbank now stands at 47.59% of share capital, according to a statement from UniCredit’s Milan headquarters, which added:

“The 47.59% position corresponds to 49.65% of Commerzbank’s voting rights, since treasury shares carry no voting rights. That percentage will nonetheless rise once Commerzbank cancels its treasury shares, an operation the bank has committed to carrying out.”

UniCredit, led by CEO Andrea Orcel, closed its statement by noting that “the conclusion of the tender offer periods represents a further step forward in the implementation of UniCredit’s strategic investment in Commerzbank,” while reaffirming its intention to keep seeking “a constructive dialogue with all stakeholders, while continuing the necessary regulatory and authorization processes tied to its investment.”

Orcel, however, continues to face fierce opposition from the government in Berlin over UniCredit’s control of Commerzbank.

What Commerzbank CEO Orlopp said. The job-cuts question

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, Commerzbank CEO Bettina Orlopp commented on the success of UniCredit’s tender offer, saying that “with the outcome of the takeover offer, we now face a new situation for all of us,” while adding that “we will not let this destabilize us.”

At the center of the dossier is the fate of thousands of employees at the German bank: Commerzbank’s leadership has said a merger between the two banks could mean 11,000 job losses, while the works council estimates the cuts could reach as many as 23,000 positions. UniCredit, for its part, has indicated that roughly 7,000 positions could be eliminated, mainly in central functions.

On Milan’s Ftse Mib index, UniCredit shares rose 0.88% to €82.64 (about $89), while MPS gained 0.80% to roughly €11.29 (about $12), Intesa Sanpaolo climbed 1.28% to €6.27 (about $6.80), and Banco BPM advanced 0.87% to €15.61 (about $16.90).

Editor’s note

This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Laura Naka Antonelli on July 10, 2026 as «UniCredit conquista Commerzbank, la furia dei dipendenti. Ma Orcel guarda già oltre, Banco BPM ora preda più facile?». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.