Commerzbank Chief Financial Officer Bettina Orlopp speaks during a press conference on fourth quarter earnings at the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, February 13, 2020.
Alex Kraus | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Commerzbank The bank has named Bettina Orlopp, a 10-year veteran and current chief financial officer, as chief executive as it fends off a potential hostile takeover by Italy’s UniCredit, the bank announced on Tuesday .
The bank has been on the defensive UniCredit Bank is expected to become its largest shareholder, suggesting a full acquisition is possible.
Earlier this month, the Milan-based bank began increasing its 9% stake in Commerzbank. UniCredit Bank Subsequently, the company announced this week that it would increase its stake in Commerzbank, increasing its stake in the German bank to about 21%, and submitted a request to increase its stake to 29.9%.
Senior officials from Commerzbank and the German government have expressed opposition to a hostile takeover. Alllop will now be tasked with leading the fight.
Commerzbank explain In a statement late on Tuesday, the supervisory board expected current CEO Manfred Knof to hand over his responsibilities to Ollop “in the near future.” The company added that after conducting an internal and external search for candidates, the board of directors unanimously approved Orlop to succeed Nove.
Commerzbank said Olop’s contract was for five years and noted that the search for her successor as chief financial officer was still ongoing.
Orlop said she was “looking forward to this new challenge,” while noting that “there are daunting tasks ahead.”
“Together with all our key partners, we will successfully meet the challenges before us,” she said.
Need a ‘credible CEO’
From March 2020According to her, Orlop has been serving as Chief Financial Officer of Commerzbank, responsible for the finance, investor relations, tax and treasury departments Introduction on the bank website. Most recently, she also served as deputy chairman of the German bank’s board of directors. From 2021.
The 54-year-old banker originally joined Commerzbank in 2014 as a divisional board member responsible for group development and strategy. Thereafter, Olop served as a member of the Executive Board and then as a member of the Managing Director Board, overseeing areas such as the Compliance, Legal and Human Resources departments.
Prior to joining Commerzbank, Orlop spent 19 years at McKinsey. She holds a Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Regensburg, where she also received a PhD in Finance.
Orlop told reporters last week that the current developments at UniCredit were unexpected, but he urged everyone to remain calm.
“We were all very surprised by the process,” she reportedly said. Reuters. “That’s why the most important thing now is to approach the problem calmly and think about what is on the table now and how to deal with it,” she added.
Other Commerzbank officials expressed their concerns more directly about working with the Italian bank. Commerzbank Supervisory Board Member Stefan Wittman Tuesday told CNBC “We certainly hope to avoid” a hostile takeover, warning that a takeover by UniCredit could lead to massive job losses.
This is not Orop’s first turbulent period at Commerzbank. She worked at the bank when it began its restructuring process in 2016 and throughout merger considerations, Includes interest from Deutsche Bank 2018 and 2019.
According to Reuters, when Orlop became chief financial officer in 2020, the bank faced pressure from U.S. private equity group Cerberus, which held about 5% of Commerzbank at the time. The activist investor demanded changes in personnel and strategy, including cost cuts, at the German bank.
this Shareholder pressure to reduce costs The then CEO and Chairman of the Supervisory Board both resigned from their posts. Nov at that time Appointed CEO It was established in 2020 and officially took office in 2021.
7Square founder Thomas Schweppe told CNBC on Wednesday that he believed it was important to make the decision to appoint Orlopp as CEO as soon as possible. “This situation is untenable. You can’t defend a company without a reliable CEO,” he said.
Schwepp said Orlop’s extensive experience at Commerzbank will allow her to get off to a fast start, which is “very, very important.”
“At the same time, it’s clear that she was involved in some of the decisions that may have led to Commerzbank’s current predicament,” he added.
