‘Germany willing to merge Deutsche, Commerzbank’

Bloomberg

The German finance ministry is willing to “orchestrate” a mer-ger between Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG, according to Focus magazine.
Various scenarios have been discussed, including one in which the German state would become Deutsche Bank’s largest shareholder for about five years before merging the two banks, Focus reported without saying how it got the information. Alternatively, Deutsche Bank could raise money from German industrial companies to buy Commerzbank. Another option discussed in the finance ministry has been creating a holding company that would own stakes in both banks,
according to the report.
The purchase of a stake in both Deutsche and Commer-zbank by private equity firm Cerberus Capital LLP last year sparked speculation about a merger between the two banks that was previously discussed in 2016, people familiar have said. The recent slump in Deu-tsche Bank’s share price and its protracted failure to revive growth has fuelled talk that it may need to weigh a combination to address its problems.
A merger between Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank to achieve that goal has won the backing of Berlin, people
with knowledge of the matter have said. The German government owns a stake of about 15 percent in Commerzbank.