UniCredit, Commerzbank discussed merger in early-2022, but shelved plan - FT

(Reuters) - Italy's UniCredit SpA and Germany's Commerzbank AG had scheduled merger talks earlier this year before the potential deal was shelved due to the Ukraine war, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

In early-2022, UniCredit's Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel had planned discussions with his counterpart from Commerzbank on a potential combination of the German bank with the Italian lender's German unit, the report added.

Reuters had reported in 2019 that the Italian bank had earlier explored potential options for Commerzbank.

UniCredit, in its response to the FT report, said it does not comment on rumours, while Commerzbank did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.

(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)