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Commerzbank is exploring cutting thousands of jobs as it seeks to fend off unwanted advances from Italy’s UniCredit, according to people familiar with the matter.
The plans, which have not yet been formalised, were expected to be unveiled to the workers’ council over the coming weeks, two of the people said. One person familiar with the discussions told the Financial Times that the figure was likely to be “in the low thousands”.
The German lender’s new chief executive, Bettina Orlopp, is due to present an updated strategy on February 13 to show the bank can improve profitability and payouts to shareholders on its own.
UniCredit, led by chief executive Andrea Orcel, has built a position in Commerzbank that has the potential to make it the bank’s largest shareholder if it secures regulatory approval.
Orcel has made no secret of his ambitions for Commerzbank, including a full takeover of the German rival.
Investors in Commerzbank have generally been supportive of a deal — with the exception of the German government, which still holds a 12 per cent stake after selling a 4.5 per cent holding to UniCredit last year.
Analysts anticipate that a tie-up would result in billions of euros of cost savings, as the enlarged bank strips out duplicate functions.
A crucial point of resistance from both the unions and the government has been the potential for UniCredit to wield the axe in Germany, where it already has a German subsidiary, HypoVereinsbank (HVB).
Commerzbank unions have warned that a takeover by UniCredit could put up to 15,000 jobs on the line — an issue that has taken on an extra dimension of political sensitivity ahead of Germany’s federal elections, being held next month.
The potential for Commerzbank to instigate cuts even without being taken over by the Italian bank would mark another chapter in its prolonged restructuring.
Commerzbank has already cut thousands of jobs and shut roughly half its 800 branches since 2021, when former chief executive Manfred Knof embarked on a turnaround effort.
The changes have helped boost operating profits and triple the bank’s share price in the past three years, and in 2023 it embarked on the first share buyback programme in its history.
But UniCredit’s stakebuilding has put additional pressure on the German bank to prove it can deliver better profitability and value for shareholders as an independent company than part of the Italian bank’s empire.
Germany’s second-largest listed bank has struggled to tackle costs that are higher than rivals’, including HVB. Orlopp has already raised Commerzbank’s performance targets since the UniCredit approach in September.
Even some insiders have expressed doubts about whether Commerzbank could hope to present a standalone case that would offer shareholders more value than a merger, given the potential synergies involved in a deal.
One person with knowledge of the matter suggested that Orlopp was now planning to accelerate a further restructuring that was previously seen as an option for the future.
Another person familiar with the discussions indicated that job reductions could be driven by digitisation, especially the adoption of artificial intelligence, with IT functions potentially being “nearshored” to other European countries outside Germany.
Commerzbank said that the strategy update, due to be presented alongside its full-year results next month, was still being developed, and “we cannot pre-empt the upcoming discussions in the management and supervisory boards”.
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