Insurer Allianz SE to sell Dresdner Bank to Commerzbank

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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SHOTLIST 1. Various Commerzbank headquarters 2. Various Dresdner Bank headquarters 3. Set up Press conference 4. SOUNDBITE (German) Michael Diekmann CEO Allianz (owner and seller of Dresdner Bank): "A merger of banks, especially clearing banks in Germany, is needed to, in times of crisis, have the necessary stability and strength to play a part in the European markets. That's why I greet the merger of Commerzbank and Dresdner as the logical step, which is the right one also from the German perspective" 5. Cutaway 6. SOUNDBITE (German) Martin Blessing CEO Commerzbank: "Ladies, Gentleman I think that with the takeover of Dresdner Bank we are having a unique chance for the German banking sector to become internationally more competitive as we are pushing forward the, as many say much needed, the consolidation of our branch. What is even more important is that this is a big chance for Commerzbank under our roof a national marker leader will emerge through the merger of the present number two and number three. We the Commerzbank are corroborating our pretension to become Germany's number one." 7. Cutaway 8. SOUNDBITE (German) Herbert Walter, acting CEO Dresdner Bank: "We have already discussed with the employee representation that there will be no enforced redundancies until 2011 and even then we will try to avoid those whenever possible." 9. Cutaway STORYLINE Commerzbank's purchase of German rival Dresdner Bank AG will cost thousands of jobs, but analysts said on Monday it would benefit insurer Allianz SE, which agreed to sell Dresdner over the weekend in a euro 9.8 (b) billion (14.44 (b) billion US dollars) deal. Shareholders appeared to agree, sending the Munich-based insurer's shares slightly higher in Frankfurt trading on Monday to euro114.11 (168.14 US dollars). Commerzbank shares suffered because many analysts were concerned about the boldness of such a major purchase in a German economic environment where growth has contracted and business and consumer confidence are at multiyear lows. Shares of Commerzbank, Germany's second-biggest bank, slid nearly 7.4 percent to euro18.60 (27.41 US dollars). The deal comes with a heavy toll in terms of job cuts: 9,000 jobs out of the combined banks' ranks of 67,000 workers will be lost, including back office, production and investment bankers. Of those cuts, 6,500 will take place in Germany with the other 2,500 abroad. But by holding on to some 30 percent of Dresdner Bank, Allianz will be able to continue selling its insurance products through the branches of the new bank, which will be Germany's biggest in terms of branches and customers, overtaking Deutsche Bank AG. It will also get Cominvest, Commerzbank's asset management unit, which is worth euro700 (m) million (one (b) billion US dollars). "All in all, we think that an almost 30 percent stake in the new banking entity is not much less risky compared to the 100 percent stake in Dresdner Bank in terms of the business mix," said Andreas Weese, an analyst with UniCredit in Munich. "However, advantages of the deal are the larger platform for the distribution of insurance products, the expansion of the asset management business via comdirect, and the participation in expected synergies." The new bank will have 11 (m) million private customers in Germany and a network of 1,200 branches peppered across Europe's biggest economy. It will also have more than 100,000 corporate and institutional clients and expand its wealth-management operations for well-heeled private clients, too. What it does not yet have is a name, said Commerzbank Chief Executive Martin Blessing. Blessing said he was torn, given that he started out at Dresdner Bank, but said it made little sense to keep both names. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/4902fb98018f81e0fdea67bdccebac12 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork