UniCredit is moving closer to taking over Commerzbank after raising its ownership to 47.6% and potential voting rights to 49.7%, but negotiations remain contentious over leadership, governance, jobs and the German bank’s future structure. UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel wants Commerzbank CEO Bettina Orlopp and Chairman Jens Weidmann to leave, according to people familiar with the matter, and opposes Germany’s demand to retain two supervisory-board seats. Commerzbank’s chairman formally invited merger discussions on July 24, 2026, while Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and Orcel later described their meeting as constructive. Berlin is seeking guarantees that Commerzbank remains listed, headquartered in Frankfurt and focused on financing German and other European small and medium-sized businesses. The all-share offer launched in May 2026 was described as valuing Commerzbank at roughly €37 billion to €39 billion with a low-single-digit premium, although an earlier account valued it at about €46 billion and cited an exchange ratio of 0.485 UniCredit shares per Commerzbank share with effectively no premium. Only about 2.7% of independent institutional and retail shareholders accepted the initial offer. Berlin retains a 12%-13.3% stake and two supervisory-board seats from the 2008 financial-crisis bailout, and people familiar with the matter said it is not currently willing to sell its holding. A combined bank would have more than €1.3 trillion in assets, but the transaction still requires approval from the European Central Bank and other regulators.