After all the noise, will Friedrich Merz’s Germany decide to exit Commerzbank’s capital altogether, selling the 12.7% stake it still holds to UniCredit? That is what a Bloomberg report suggests.

According to the news agency, some senior German officials have signaled a willingness to discuss the possibility of transferring the stake the Merz government still owns in Germany’s second-largest lender to the Italian bank led by chief executive Andrea Orcel — on condition that the two institutions reach an agreement both on a common strategy and on Commerzbank’s future.

Buying Berlin’s stake would take UniCredit above 60% of Commerzbank

Bloomberg cites the openness of only some government officials, and stresses that the Merz government’s official position has not changed.

Even so, while Berlin has been consistent in saying it wants to keep supporting the lender’s independence, Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently made clear that his government does not intend to move to block UniCredit’s acquisition of Commerzbank, following the success of the Italian bank’s OPAS (offerta pubblica di acquisto e scambio, a public cash-and-share tender offer).

If the rumors are confirmed, the sale of Germany’s Commerzbank stake to UniCredit would allow the group headquartered in Milan’s Piazza Gae Aulenti to raise its holding from just under 50% today to more than 60%.

A spokesperson for the Merz government contacted by Bloomberg restated the government’s position and declined to comment on the report. Commerzbank and UniCredit also declined to comment.

«An important precedent»: how one fund manager reads the UniCredit-Commerzbank file

Johannes Hesche, portfolio manager at the ACATIS Value Event Fund, recently commented on the UniCredit-Commerzbank dossier:

«I would consider the UniCredit-Commerzbank deal an important precedent, but not yet the blueprint for a wave of hostile cross-border banking acquisitions. The ECB [European Central Bank] has explicitly pushed for greater consolidation of the European banking sector and, if UniCredit succeeds despite the persistent opposition of the German government and of Commerzbank’s management, that would show that national politics alone cannot ultimately block a transaction that meets European regulatory standards. But this is also an unusually favorable situation: UniCredit already has a substantial presence in Germany through HVB, the competitive overlap is limited, and its 47.59% economic stake translates into almost 50% of Commerzbank’s voting rights, leaving the target company very little room to maneuver.»

Hesche went on to note that «Orlopp’s decision to accept the offer therefore looks less like a change of mind and more like an acknowledgment that the final outcome had become hard to avoid» — a reference to Commerzbank chief executive Bettina Orlopp.

He added that «if the deal proves financially profitable after integration, it should make it easier to promote friendly cross-border mergers with boards and investors».

His conclusion: «I would however be far more cautious about assuming that other European banks are willing to take the hostile path Orcel has pursued over the past two years».

Where the two stocks stand

Listed on the FTSE MIB, the blue-chip index of the Milan stock exchange, UniCredit shares were down 0.50% at €84.80 in trading on Monday, August 17, while Commerzbank stock, traded in Frankfurt, was posting a slight decline at €39.68.

Editor’s note

This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Laura Naka Antonelli on August 17, 2026 as «Azioni UniCredit sotto i riflettori. La Germania venderà quota 12,7% in Commerzbank a Orcel?». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.