Cerberus is considering buying state stake

Frankfurt, Düsseldorf Job cuts, staff quarrels, red numbers: Commerzbank is currently going haywire. The likelihood that this will change in the near future is low, because after the federal elections the debate about an exit by the state at Germany’s second-largest private bank is likely to gain in intensity.

The US financial investor Cerberus, who holds five percent in the institute, could well imagine taking over the state stake of 15.6 percent, as several people familiar with the topic told the Handelsblatt.

Cerberus Germany boss David Knower signaled in confidential talks his willingness to consider acquiring the state stake in Commerzbank if the new federal government is ready to sell. Cerberus and Commerzbank did not want to comment on this.