Commerzbank to acquire block of Comdirect shares from Petrus Advisers
Commerzbank will hold over 90% of the shares of Comdirect once it’s completed.
Commerzbank will acquire an equity stake in Comdirect bank from institutional investor Petrus Advisers through its subsidiary Commerzbank Inlandsbanken Holding GmbH.
Once the transaction has been completed, Commerzbank will hold over 90% of the shares of Comdirect.
This means that Commerzbank has reached the required investment threshold for the merger of Comdirect into Commerzbank by means of a squeeze-out under merger law. Under the squeeze-out, Comdirect shareholders will receive a cash compensation for their shares.
Read more: Commerzbank to cut 4,300 jobs, close 200 branches and sell subsidiary
Martin Zielke, chairman of the board of managing directors of Commerzbank, states: “With the increase of our Comdirect stake, we have laid the basis for a swift merger of Comdirect into Commerzbank.”
He believes that this is an important step to quickly and efficiently execute the integration of its direct banking subsidiary. “This is a key component of our Commerzbank 5.0 strategy. With our strong multi-channel bank we will offer Comdirect’s excellent brokerage services to all Commerzbank customers.”
Under the terms of the offer published in October 2019, Commerzbank is offering Comdirect’s shareholders EUR11.44 per share in cash. This corresponds to a 25% premium on the Xetra closing price of the comdirect share on September 19, 2019. However, the purchase price has not yet been disclosed.
