Commerzbank to acquire block of comdirect shares from Petrus Advisers
Once the transaction has been completed, Commerzbank will hold over 90% of the shares of comdirect.
Commerzbank AG (ETR:CBK) today announces that it will acquire an equity stake in comdirect bank from institutional investor Petrus Advisers Ltd. through its subsidiary Commerzbank Inlandsbanken Holding GmbH. The purchase price has not been disclosed.
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.
Martin Zielke, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of Commerzbank, commented:
“With the increase of our comdirect stake, we have laid the basis for a swift merger of comdirect into Commerzbank. This is an important step to quickly and efficiently execute the integration of our successful direct banking subsidiary and realise significant synergies. 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.
