UniCredit’s lowball bid for Commerzbank causes consternation

Photograph: Reuters

May 7th 2026|BERLIN|3 min read

The offer was not a surprise. On May 5th UniCredit, Italy’s second-biggest bank, made a bid for all the shares it does not already own in Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest listed lender—as it had promised in mid-March. Until June 16th Commerzbank’s shareholders can swap one share for 0.485 of UniCredit’s. It is not an enticing proposition: the implied price is more than 8% below Commerzbank’s closing mark on May 4th. The bid values the whole bank at €35bn ($41bn).