(Alliance News) : The battle for control of Commerzbank between the German lender and UniCredit intensified further on Friday, as the Frankfurt-based institution accused the Italian group of providing misleading information to the market.
According to the Commerzbank General Works Council, the bank now intends to file a criminal complaint.
"I can confirm that an extraordinary meeting of the General Works Council is taking place today," the body's chairman, Sascha Uebel, told the business daily Handelsblatt.
The Council has reportedly instructed Uebel to file a complaint "against persons unknown for suspected market manipulation and deceptive conduct" under Sections 119 and 120 of the German Securities Trading Act.
This initiative is particularly significant regarding UniCredit, as market manipulation constitutes a criminal offense in Germany.
UniCredit launched its offer for Commerzbank in early May and, as of Thursday, had secured tenders representing 11.22% of the German bank's capital. This stake would bring UniCredit's total holding to just over 37%.
Furthermore, the Italian group has secured more than 3% of Commerzbank's capital through call options and other financial instruments.
According to many observers, it is unusual for UniCredit to have obtained such a high number of tenders well before the end of the acceptance period, which expires on June 16 and can be extended until July 3, especially considering that the offer is currently below Commerzbank's market share price.
Institutional investors, in fact, generally tend to tender their shares only in the final days of an offer.
"Like many Commerzbank employees, I suspect this is a deliberate attempt to mislead the financial markets," Uebel stated. "The goal is to create the impression that UniCredit has now almost completed the acquisition of Commerzbank, but that is not the case."
In recent days, Commerzbank had already involved the German financial supervisory authority BaFin, arguing that UniCredit was not behaving correctly in its communications to the market.
The German bank contends that the shares tendered to the offer come predominantly from banks and related parties, some of whom are known as UniCredit's counterparties in financial instrument transactions, rather than from independent investors.
UniCredit has rejected the accusations, stating that it operates in full compliance with regulations and maintains a transparent dialogue with BaFin.
UniCredit shares rose 4.3% to €73.40 in Milan, while Commerzbank shares were up 4.8% at €37.29 in Frankfurt.
source: dpa
By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter
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