French bank Societe Generale SA and Spanish peer Banco Santander
SA are weighing whether to link up with Commerzbank AG or even to
acquire the German banking group, German daily Die Welt reported
Friday, citing its sister publication Bilanz.
A SocGen delegation sounded out the German government about
selling its 17% stake in Commerzbank, the newspaper said. The
government's stake stems from its 2009 rescue of Commerzbank, Die
Welt reported. But the government told the SocGen representatives
that the government would make a decision in October at the
earliest, when the latest health tests of European banks become
known, the newspaper said.
The German government would lose more than 2.5 billion euros
($3.41 billion) if it were to sell its stake now, German daily
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.
Die Welt said the Commerzbank's customer base of German
medium-sized businesses could help the French and Spanish banks
build out their own German operations, lessening dependence on
their troubled home markets. They also like Commerzbank's deposit
base that could shield them from uncertain financial markets, the
newspaper said.
For its part, Commerzbank could benefit from Santander's retail
prowess, the newspaper said.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that SocGen had no
comment on market rumors. The newspaper noted that Commerzbank's
shares rose 4% on Thursday.
Newspaper websites: www.welt.de; www.faz.net
Write to Dennis.Baker@wsj.com
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