By Tom Sims
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -A delegation of employee representatives from Commerzbank met with members of the European Parliament to voice their concerns about a possible takeover by UniCredit, according to a social media post on Thursday and two people with knowledge of the matter.
Italy’s UniCredit last week doubled its shareholding in the German lender as it pushes for a tie-up between the banks, despite resistance from Commerzbank management, employees and the German government.
The outreach marks a new front in the defense against the advances of UniCredit, which first emerged as a big investor in Commerzbank in September.
“We made clear that a takeover would not be progress towards a European banking union,” Commerzbank supervisory board member Nina Olderdissen said in a post on LinkedIn about the Brussels meetings.
“What may seem like a step towards European integration actually harbors considerable risks for employees, customers and investors on both sides – without any discernible added value,” she wrote.
Commerzbank and UniCredit declined to comment.
Unicredit’s CEO, Andrea Orcel, has said a deal “would create a new national banking champion for Germany”, aiding “the revitalisation of the German economy”.
(Reporting by Tom Sims, editing by Thomas Seythal and Madeline Chambers)
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