Commerzbank takes note of UniCredit’s unsolicited takeover attempt

UniCredit S.p.A. today announced its intention to launch a public takeover offer to the shareholders of Commerzbank AG to acquire all Commerzbank shares. Commerzbank takes note of this announcement. The announced takeover offer has not been aligned with Commerzbank. Additionally, the communication from UniCredit does not include any further information regarding key terms of a value-creating transaction. This would be a necessary basis for potential discussions.

Bettina Orlopp, CEO of Commerzbank, said: “Our top priority is to create sustainable value for our shareholders and all stakeholders of Commerzbank. We are convinced of the strength and potential of our strategy, which focuses on independence and profitable growth. This move is not coordinated with us. The exchange ratio expected in the announcement does in fact not include a premium for our shareholders.”

The Board of Managing Directors and the Supervisory Board of Commerzbank will carefully examine the announced voluntary takeover offer once it is published, acting in the best interests of the Bank, its shareholders, employees and clients.

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Max Hohenberg +49 69 9353-34249

Investors’ contact
Christoph Wortig +49 69 9353-47710

About Commerzbank
With its two business segments – Corporate Clients and Private and Small-Business Customers –, Commerzbank, as a full-service bank, offers a comprehensive portfolio of financial services. It is the leading bank in the Corporate Clients Business in Germany and for the German Mittelstand and a strong partner for around 24,000 corporate client groups and accounts for approximately 30% of German foreign trade. The Bank is present internationally in more than 40 countries in the corporate clients’ business – wherever its Mittelstand clients, large corporates, and institutional clients need it. In addition, Commerzbank supports its international clients with a business relationship to Germany, Austria, or Switzerland and companies operating in selected future-oriented industries. With more than €400bn assets under management, Commerzbank is also one of the leading banks for private and small-business customers in Germany. Under the brand Commerzbank, it offers a wide range of products and services with an omni-channel approach: online and mobile, via phone or video in the remote advisory centre, and personally in its around 400 branches. Under the brand comdirect, it offers all core services as a digital primary bank 24/7 and, as a performance broker, solutions for saving, investing, and securities trading. Its Polish subsidiary mBank S.A. is an innovative digital bank that serves around 5.9 million private and corporate customers, predominantly in Poland, as well as in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Disclaimer
This release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. In this release, these statements concern inter alia the expected future business of Commerzbank, efficiency gains and expected synergies, expected growth prospects and other opportunities for an increase in value of Commerzbank as well as expected future financial results, restructuring costs and other financial developments and information. These forward-looking statements are based on the management’s current plans, expectations, estimates and projections. They are subject to a number of assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially from any future results and developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, amongst others, the conditions in the financial markets in Germany, in Europe, in the USA and other regions from which Commerzbank derives a substantial portion of its revenues and in which Commerzbank holds a substantial portion of its assets, the development of asset prices and market volatility, especially due to the ongoing European debt crisis, potential defaults of borrowers or trading counterparties, the implementation of its strategic initiatives to improve its business model, the reliability of its risk management policies, procedures and methods, risks arising as a result of regulatory change and other risks. Forward-looking statements therefore speak only as of the date they are made. Commerzbank has no obligation to update or release any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.