Frankfurt, May 8, 2026, 23:03 CEST
- Commerzbank is looking to shed as many as 3,000 additional jobs after raising its profit targets, stepping up efforts to demonstrate its standalone value.
- UniCredit has put its all-share bid to investors; Commerzbank, for its part, calls the price too low versus the market.
- The battle isn’t just about valuation anymore—Berlin, labor unions, and Germany’s financial watchdog have joined the push.
Commerzbank plans to cut as many as 3,000 additional jobs and is lifting its profit guidance for 2026 and 2030, stepping up its resistance to UniCredit’s unsolicited takeover bid. The move comes just days after the Italian lender officially launched its offer to Commerzbank shareholders.
UniCredit’s stake in Commerzbank sits just below 30%, a level that puts it close to crossing a crucial German takeover threshold. Berlin, meanwhile, continues to hold its own 12% in the lender, a bank that’s critical for providing financing to Germany’s Mittelstand—the country’s backbone of small and mid-sized manufacturers.
Commerzbank posted a first-quarter net profit of 913 million euros, a 9% increase from the same period last year. The bank lifted its 2026 net profit target to at least 3.4 billion euros, up from a previous goal of more than 3.2 billion euros. For 2030, Commerzbank is now aiming for net profit of 5.9 billion euros and a net return on tangible equity of roughly 21%.
Commerzbank, headquartered in Frankfurt, is aiming for 16.8 billion euros in revenue by 2030 under its “Momentum 2030” roadmap. The bank took a swipe at UniCredit’s proposal, calling it vague and warning of “considerable execution risks.” As for shareholders, Commerzbank argued they’d be trading away future upside and control—without any premium on the table. Commerzbank
Commerzbank said UniCredit’s proposal values each Commerzbank share at roughly 31.07 euros, pegged to UniCredit’s May 4 close and based on an offer of 0.485 new UniCredit shares for every Commerzbank share. That works out to an 8.7% discount to Commerzbank’s own closing price of 34.02 euros that day.
Chief Executive Bettina Orlopp is pitching the strategy update as a simpler choice for investors. Speaking to ZDF, she emphasized that Commerzbank can shape its own path — “its strategy” — and took a swipe at UniCredit’s critical ads, labeling them “an attempt to talk down our valuation.” ZDFheute
UniCredit is pitching the bid not as a power play, but as a move to shake things loose. Back in March, the Milan lender said its offer was designed to push past the 30% threshold set by German takeover rules, aiming to “foster constructive engagement.” The bank made clear it anticipated topping that 30% mark, though insisted it wasn’t seeking to take control. Unicreditgroup
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel isn’t pushing for change just yet, telling analysts this week that the bank benefits from the current setup even without control. “By our very presence, we are promoting an improvement of Commerzbank,” Orcel said as UniCredit posted a record quarterly profit and bumped its full-year profit target to a minimum of 11 billion euros. Reuters
This isn’t Commerzbank’s first go at slashing jobs. Earlier in the decade, the bank let 10,000 employees go, then last year mapped out another 3,900 roles to be eliminated. UniCredit, for its part, had drawn up a Commerzbank restructuring blueprint with 1.3 billion euros in targeted cost savings, calling for 7,000 job cuts, according to Reuters.
German opposition is firming up. Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared that Germany would not accept hostile or aggressive bank takeovers. Commerzbank works council chief Sascha Uebel dismissed Orcel’s push for more discussions and called on the German government to look at raising its stake.
The clash has reached into both marketing and oversight. BaFin, the German financial regulator, has prohibited UniCredit from running some social-media advertisements targeting Commerzbank. ZDF reported that BaFin took issue with what it called a “sensationalist and unsachlich” approach—essentially, inflammatory and lacking objective reasoning. ZDFheute
Commerzbank’s pushback might not be enough to close the chapter. Future gains will hinge on ramped-up revenues, sharper cost reductions, and efficiency from artificial intelligence—areas where execution is key and targets are demanding. Investors could still demand engagement if UniCredit sweetens its offer. WirtschaftsWoche called the new plan ambitious, warning it won’t be simple to implement.
The takeover fight is shaping up as a gauge of Europe’s appetite for cross-border bank deals in the face of home-country pushback. UniCredit insists that larger banks are crucial, given rising geopolitical tensions and higher rates. Commerzbank counters, warning its position in Germany’s corporate banking could take a hit if Milan calls the shots. Shareholders now carry most of the weight on what happens next.
