An appeal by UniCredit against Italian government conditions hampering its $17 billion bid for Banco BPM will be heard by a court on Wednesday, a day after it lifted its voting stake in another target - Germany's Commerzbank.
Italy's second biggest bank UniCredit owns an equity stake of around 20%, with corresponding voting rights, in Commerzbank after converting into shares derivatives which gives it an overall 29% holding in its German rival.
UniCredit's recent push for a tie-up with Commerzbank has prompted calls by a top official of the German bank for the Italian lender's CEO, Andrea Orcel, to abandon the pursuit.
The chief of Italian bank UniCredit is continuing a push to tie up with Commerzbank , writing letters last month to Germany's chancellor and two others to make his case, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Wednesday.
Commerzbank CEO Bettina Orlopp on Thursday criticized the Italian bank UniCredit for talking down the share price of the German lender by saying its shares had risen excessively.
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel said on Wednesday he currently saw little scope to advance his acquisition strategy, given that Commerzbank had become too pricey and Italy was effectively blocking a takeover of Banco BPM.
The UniCredit CEO stressed that UniCredit is presently "far away" from a merger bid with Commerzbank and would first seek a "constructive solution" to opposition from the German government.
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