Commerzbank Paves Way to Gain Full Ownership of Comdirect Unit

(Bloomberg) -- Commerzbank AG paved the way to gain full ownership of its Comdirect Bank AG online brokerage with the purchase of a stake from activist investor Petrus Advisers Ltd.

The deal will lift the German lender’s holding in Comdirect to more than 90%, allowing it to squeeze out the remaining shareholders. Commerzbank didn’t disclose a price for the transaction in a statement on Friday.

Taking over the digital lender is a cornerstone of a broad overhaul presented by Commerzbank Chief Executive Officer Martin Zielke in September in the wake of failed merger talks with Deutsche Bank AG. The deal marks its second attempt in the past few months to take full control of the subsidiary after an initial approach failed three weeks ago because too few investors agreed to sell.

“We have laid the basis for a swift merger of Comdirect into Commerzbank,” Zielke said in a statement. “This is an important step to quickly and efficiently execute the integration of our successful direct banking subsidiary and realize significant synergies.”

Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Commerzbank was in advanced talks to buy Petrus Advisers’ 7.5% stake, after the activist fund criticized its previous offer as too low.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Comfort in Frankfurt at ncomfort1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Christian Baumgaertel, Ross Larsen

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