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Italy: UniCredit puts possible Commerzbank deal on hold

By  |  June 24, 2019

Italy’s UniCredit has put a possible bid for Commerzbank on ice as the German rival does not want to engage in negotiations so soon after the collapse of merger talks with Deutsche Bank, four sources told Reuters.

UniCredit had stepped up preparations for a potential takeover of Commerzbank by engaging Lazard and its banker Joerg Asmussen, a former German deputy finance minister, along with JP Morgan, people familiar with the matter said in May.

That raised the prospect of a deal that would allow Italy’s largest bank by assets to shift its focus away from its struggling domestic market, a key plank of Chief Executive Jean-Pierre Mustier’s strategy.

Full Content: Reuters

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