FRANKFURT, Sept 11 (Bernama-dpa) -- Italian banking group UniCredit has secured a stake in Commerzbank, the German government said on Wednesday, reported the German news agency (dpa).
The German state, which last week said it intended to gradually reduce its stake in the Commerzbank, sold a 4.49 per cent of the bank's shares for around €702 million (US$775 million) to Unicredit.
The Italians were prepared to pay more than the shares were worth on the stock exchange on Tuesday evening, the German Federal Finance Agency said in a statement. The entire package was allocated to Unicredit due to it "significantly outbidding" all other offers.
The allocation price was €13.20 per share, €0.06 higher than the share price at the close of trading on Tuesday.
The sale of just over 53 million shares reduces the German government's stake to 12 per cent. The state remains Commerzbank's largest shareholder. Unicredit is now the bank's third-largest shareholder.
The Italian bank confirmed in a statement that it "acquired an equity stake equal to around 9 per cent in the share capital of Commerzbank".
The US asset manager Blackrock is number two with around 7 per cent. It holds the shares via various funds and therefore has no strategic interest. Unicredit is represented in Germany by HVB.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
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