UniCredit overtures hold few fears for Germany’s Mittelstand

BERLIN, Sept 25 (Reuters): Germany's Commerzbank says its role as a key lender to the swathe of "Mittelstand" midsize companies that drive Europe's top economy is grounds to resist UniCredit's overtures. But Mittelstand leaders themselves are less convinced.

Italy's UniCredit said on Monday it was preparing to increase its stake in Commerzbank to 21 per cent, a move Chancellor Olaf Scholz called "an unfriendly attack".

Officials at the two main German business groups representing small to midsize enterprises (SMEs) instead cited the benefits of scale a cross-border merger could offer, mirroring arguments made by the Italian bank.

"This could initiate the urgently needed transformation of Commerzbank's ailing business to make it competitive again, which would be an advantage for German companies too," said Marc Tenbieg, managing director of the DMB association which counts more than 27,000 small and mid-sized business members.