Germany’s finance minister has dismissed UniCredit’s ‘too aggressive’ bid for Commerzbank.

Italian lender UniCreditHis “too aggressive, too vague” bid for Commerzbank was criticized by German Finance Minister Jörg Kütz, who stressed that being hostile doesn’t often work.

“In government, we have to protect the security and stability of the banking system,” Kukies told CNBC on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “Hate raids on systemic banks do not tend to be successful.”

UniCredit has a direct stake of 9.5% and 18.5% in Commerzbank after building a surprise stake and increasing its position in September.

Armed with a strong CET1 ratio – a measure of bank strength and resilience – from 16.1% Starting in the third quarter, Italian lender Commerzbank is seeking approval from the European Central Bank, which oversees the euro zone’s biggest lender, to increase its stake to 29.99 percent.

The sudden and accelerated pace of UniCredit’s pursuit has fueled market speculation that CEO Andrea Orsell — a veteran Merrill Lynch mergers and acquisitions purveyor — is finally targeting cross-border.

UniCredit’s move through its HypoVereinsbank branch in Germany has so far been welcomed by the fractured Berlin government, with outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticizing “an unfriendly attack, a hostile invasion, which is not a good thing for banks”. “

Disturbances over domestic politics and the upcoming election in December could prevent the German administration from closely monitoring the transaction.

“In this particular situation, the potential acquisition behavior was very intense, very vague, very vague,” Kukies told CNBC’s Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick. “Hate raids in systemic banks is not a good thing. So it’s all about the details of this case, not a general statement that Germany is not open for business to international investors.”

CNBC has reached out to UniCredit for comment.

Speaking to CNBC in November, months after the surprise stake was built, Orsell said: “Let’s put it this way: If we hadn’t been invited to buy that stake, we wouldn’t be here. And it all started one way. We thought it was constructive.

At the end of November, the Italian banking group simultaneously made a massive formal takeover offer for its Italian counterpart Banco BPM, raising questions over its commitment to the deal.

Commerzbank, on the other hand, has been encouraging the matter to be left alone, warning that if the two banks were to merge, it would result in significant job losses due to his board membership.

The controversial UniCredit Orcel was advised on the transaction by top investment bank Merrill Lynch at the time.

However, analysts in the region – and Germany in particular – describe banking consolidation as “long overdue”. In the year Commerzbank was previously targeted for a takeover of Deutsche Bank, the country’s largest lender, before initial talks collapsed in 2019.

“The statement that there is no consolidation and no change in the German banking sector is completely wrong,” Cooks said Thursday.

UniCredit and Commerzbank are due to release their fourth quarter results on February 11 and February 13 respectively.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Unicredit’s earnings will be published on February 11.