Bettina Orlopp, chief financial officer of Commerzbank AG, speaks during a fourth quarter earnings press conference at the bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020.
Alex Kraus | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Commerzbank announced on Tuesday that it has tapped 10-year veteran and current CFO Bettina Orlopp to lead the bank as chief executive as it tries to fend off a potential hostile takeover by Italian bank UniCredit.
The bank is on the defensive as UniCredit looks set to become its largest shareholder, signaling the possibility of a full takeover.
Earlier this month, the Milan-based bank began building its stake with a 9% stake in Commerzbank. UniCredit then announced this week that it had acquired additional Commerzbank shares, bringing its stake in the German lender to around 21%, and submitted a request to increase its holdings to 29.9%.
Senior officials at Commerzbank and the German government, which was the company’s largest shareholder until UniCredit stepped in, have both said they oppose a hostile takeover. Orlopp will now lead the race.
Commerzbank he said in a statement late Tuesday that its supervisory board is targeting current CEO Manfred Knof to hand over his duties to Orlopp “in the near future.” The company added that the board unanimously agreed that Orlopp should succeed Knof after an internal and external search for candidates.
Orlopp’s contract is for five years, Commerzbank said, noting that the search for her replacement as CFO continues.
Orlopp said she is “looking forward to this new challenge”, while also noting that “important tasks lie ahead”.
“Together with all our key partners, we will successfully navigate the challenges ahead,” he said.
Need for a ‘trustworthy CEO’
From March 2020Orlopp was Commerzbank’s CFO, covering finance, investor relations, tax and treasury departments, she said. resume on the bank’s website. She was also recently deputy chairman of the board of directors of the German bank, a position she held from 2021.
The 54-year-old banker originally joined Commerzbank in 2014 as a board member for group development and strategy. Since then, Orlopp has served as an executive member of the board of directors and then a member of the board of directors overseeing areas including compliance, legal and human resources.
Prior to her time at Commerzbank, Orlopp worked at McKinsey for 19 years. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Regensburg, where he also completed a PhD in finance.
Orlopp told reporters last week that the current developments with UniCredit were unexpected, but urged calm.
“We are all very surprised by the process,” he was quoted as saying Reuters. “So the most important thing now is just to settle the matter calmly, think about what’s on the table now and how to deal with it,” he added.
Other Commerzbank officials were more forthcoming in sharing their concerns about a commitment to the Italian bank. Stefan Wittman, member of the supervisory board of Commerzbank, on Tuesday he told CNBC “We certainly hope that we can avoid” a hostile takeover and warned that there could be large job losses if UniCredit takes over.
This is not Orlopp’s first turbulent time at Commerzbank. He was at the bank when the restructuring process began in 2016 and during periods of merger concerns, including interests from Deutsche Bank in 2018 and 2019.
When Orlopp became CFO in 2020, the bank was facing pressure from US private equity group Cerberus, which at the time owned about 5 percent of Commerzbank, according to Reuters. The activist investor has called for personnel and strategy changes – including cost-cutting – at the German lender.
Pressure from shareholders to cut costs led both the CEO and the chairman of the supervisory board at the time to step down. Knof was then was named CEO in 2020 and officially assumed the role in 2021.
Thomas Schweppe, founder of 7Square, told CNBC on Wednesday that he believes it is important to make the decision quickly to make Orlopp CEO. “The situation is untenable. You cannot defend a company without a credible CEO,” he said.
Orlopp’s extensive experience at Commerzbank will allow her to hit the ground running, which is “very, very important”, Schweppe said.
“At the same time he was apparently involved in some decisions that potentially led to the difficult situation Commerzbank is now in,” he added.
