Commerzbank and Generali plan to strengthen their ties and the Italian insurer may double its stake in the fourth-biggest bank in Germany from five percent to 10 percent, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
Quoting banking sources, the newspaper said that executives of both groups met last Friday to discuss strengthening their alliance, particularly in the areas of insurance and asset management.
At the same time, Generali will double its stake in Commerzbank from five percent to 10 percent in an operation which would cost the Italian insurer around 900 million euros (4810 million), the newspaper said.
Commerzbank, for its part, holds a stake of 1.4 percent in Generali.
Following the collapse of merger talks with Dresdner Bank last month, Commerzbank announced that it would reinforce its ties with its European partners to help defend itself against possible hostile takeovers.
Commerzbank's major shareholder, the investor group Cobra, has made it clear that it would prefer the German bank to enter a cross-border alliance.
The bank's management board was scheduled to meet on Tuesday, the FT reported. — (AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
