Commerzbank AG (CRZBY)

[Enterprising Investor]

German Govt Has No Plans to Sell Commerzbank Stake (7/15/13)

BERLIN--Germany has no plans for now to sell its remaining shares in Commerzbank AG (CBK.XE), a spokeswoman for the finance ministry said Monday, responding to a report that the government is looking abroad for a buyer.

She declined to comment on whether German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has spoken with UBS (UBS) Chairman Axel Weber about possibly acquiring the country's second-largest lender, as reported by the German news magazine Focus over the weekend.

"When the Commerzbank shares held by SoFFin will be sold is currently not foreseeable," Marianne Kothe said. She added that the government is "going openly into the sales process."

SoFFin is the government program set up in 2008 to stabilize and restore confidence in the financial system.

Neither Commerzbank nor UBS would comment on the Focus report when contacted by The Wall Street Journal over the weekend.

Germany became a shareholder of Commerzbank as part of a rescue operation in early 2009, in the wake of the market turbulence generated by the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

After a capital hike earlier this year, the government's share in the bank fell from 25% to 17%.

Write to Harriet Torry at [e-mail]

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20130715-702650.html?mod=WSJ_qtoverview_wsjlatest