It’s not just Commerzbank: Italians are eating up German business

UniCredit said on 15 October the ECB approved its €45bn hostile takeover of Commerzbank. The article places it in a wider wave: Italian firms raised the value of foreign takeovers by 74% last year to €24bn (per Milan bank Arkios), with Germany the third-biggest target. Examples include MediaForEurope’s €1.8bn purchase of ProSiebenSat.1, Italo’s plan to challenge Deutsche Bahn by 2028, and tech deals such as Bending Spoons buying Komoot (Bending Spoons has just sold a big stake to Berkshire Hathaway). The German government, a 13% Commerzbank owner, objects to Andrea Orcel’s derivatives-built stake and wants tighter rules. The Economist calls Berlin’s objections “sour Riesling grapes” that are too late to stop UniCredit and unlikely to deter buyers drawn by stagnant Germany’s cheap tech and engineering assets—its opinion. Flows still run both ways: Lufthansa holds 41% of ITA Airways, rising to 90%.