By Aimee Look and Joshua Kirby
UniCredit increased its stake in Commerzbank to close to half following a takeover bid that values the bank at some 42 billion euros ($47.8 billion).
The Italian lender said Wednesday that it secured 17.6% of the bank's shares in a tender offer, taking its stake in Commerzbank to 47.6% when combined with its existing direct stake and another smaller stake to which it has economic rights.
UniCredit, Commerzbank's largest investor, in March launched an all-share offer that at the time valued the target at around 35 billion euros, but now values it at around 41.9 billion euros, based on UniCredit's share price Wednesday. A successful takeover would mark the biggest banking deal in Europe since the 2008-09 crisis.
"The completion of the tender offer periods represents a further step in the execution of UniCredit's strategic investment in Commerzbank," UniCredit said.
