Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have decided to call off the merger. After weeks of negotiations, they have now officially ended the talks.
Both sides announced this. It had come to the conclusion that a merger with Commerzbank would not offer sufficient added value - also with regard to the implementation risks, restructuring costs and capital requirements that would go hand in hand with such a large degree of integration.After careful analysis it became apparent that such a combination would not be in the interests of either bank's shareholders or other stakeholders.
Christian Sewing, Deutsche Bank's CEO, said in a memo to employees: "After thorough analysis, we have concluded that this transaction would not have created sufficient benefits to offset the additional execution risks, restructuring costs and capital requirements associated with such a large-scale integration."
Martin Zielke, CEO of Commerzbank said: "It made sense to evaluate this option for domestic consolidation in Germany. However, we were always clear: we needed to be convinced that any potential combination would generate higher and more sustainable returns for shareholders and allow us to enhance our value proposition to clients."
"After thorough analysis, we have concluded that this transaction would not have created sufficient benefits to offset the additional execution risks, restructuring costs and capital requirements associated with such a large-scale integration. I would like to thank Christian Sewing and everyone involved for the constructive discussions over the past few weeks. We will continue our strategy, grow together with our clients and invest in our future," Zielke continued.
