ADVERTISEMENT

Deutsche Bank Says U.S. Operations Aren't Part of Merger Talks

Deutsche Bank Says U.S. Operations Aren't Part of Merger Talks

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG said restructuring its U.S. investment bank hasn’t been part of talks to acquire Commerzbank AG that have intensified in recent days.

Top U.S. executives at Deutsche Bank told employees that the bank and management are “firmly committed to our U.S. franchise,” according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. The memo followed a report by Reuters on Friday that it had discussed shaking up the business with Commerzbank.

In the report, Reuters cited unidentified people as saying that executives talked about how to scale back the unit after Commerzbank sought assurances that Deutsche Bank was prepared to make deeper cuts as a condition of a takeover. The two banks are close to sketching out the outline of a potential merger deal, people briefed on the matter have said.

“We can assure you the U.S. has not been a part of the discussions with Commerzbank,” Deutsche Bank said in the memo sent late Friday. It was signed by Mark Fedorcik, co-president of the investment bank, and Tom Patrick, who runs operations in the Americas.

A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman declined to comment.

The rival German lenders started formal merger negotiations last month and have been in daily contact despite opposition across the political spectrum. People at Deutsche Bank working on the deal have estimated that tens of thousands of jobs are at stake.

--With assistance from Naomi Kresge.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jake Rudnitsky in Moscow at jrudnitsky@bloomberg.net;Steven Arons in Frankfurt at sarons@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Nicholas Larkin, James Amott

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.