Commerzbank Eyes Postbank

The head of Germany's fourth largest bank, Commerzbank, Klaus-Peter Müller, has expressed interest in a merger with postal bank Postbank. In an interview for the German Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag Mueller said: "If we merged with Postbank we would become the biggest bank for retail customers in Europe. Nevertheless for this to happen we need the go-ahead from the federal government." Postbank, which had been sized up by Germany's biggest bank Deutsche Bank, has an 11 percent market share of the domestic retail banking sector. The German postal authority Deutsche Post, of which Postbank is the banking arm, floated 33 percent of Postbank's share capital on the stock market in June. A further 16.9 percent is to be ceded to investors through convertible bonds, allowing Deutsche Post to keep 50.1 percent. Müller also did not rule out Commerzbank being taken over by a foreign institution. This would depend on it being an institution "which suits us well and which can provide a commitment not to destroy Commerzbank," he said.