By Tom Sims, Matthias Inverardi and Tilman Blasshofer
WIESBADEN (Reuters) -Commerzbank’s chief executive and hundreds of employees voiced support for the German lender’s standalone strategy as its shareholders met on Thursday, stepping up efforts to fend off advances of Italy’s UniCredit.
About 200 Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) employees gathered outside the venue of the annual shareholder meeting, carrying placards saying "strong and standalone" and "no to UniCredit".
"We are focussing on ourselves and our independent strategy," Commerzbank CEO Bettina Orlopp told Reuters shortly before the start of the meeting.
"We don’t need constant interference from the outside," she added.
UniCredit, with a stake of nearly 10%, is Commerzbank’s second-largest shareholder after the German government. It began a push for a potential pan-European bank merger last year, leaving Germany’s corporate and political establishment shocked.
UniCredit’s interest swiftly sparked concern among employees as well as Commerzbank management and top German government officials.
Kevin Voss, a Verdi union leader, said he feared massive job cuts in the case of a takeover.
UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel’s pursuit of Commerzbank has become a test of Germany’s resolve to fend off foreign suitors and prevent its financial centre in Frankfurt from losing one of the few remaining big commercial banks.
UniCredit declined to comment on the protests and on how it would vote at the shareholder meeting.
Big shareholders speaking on Thursday supported Commerzbank’s strategy and did not openly call for talks with UniCredit.
But Hendrik Schmidt of the fund manager DWS said that cooperations "shouldn’t be taboo".
Alexandra Annecke, with the fund manager Union Investment, said that a higher valuation at Commerzbank could help it secure "more strategic options".
Last week, Commerzbank reported that net profit rose nearly 12% in the first quarter, beating expectations despite strong challenges for the German economy.
Andreas Thomae, of Deka Investment, praised Commerzbank for making strides in increasing profit and warned that a UniCredit takeover should not happen "at any price".
Klaus Nieding of the shareholder lobby group DSW said he was firmly against a takeover.
"Mega-mergers have rarely paid off for us shareholders in the past," he said.