UBS group chairman Axel Weber has reportedly created a wish list of potential partners for a mega-merger with the Swiss giant.
Weber has been planning for various scenarios in UBS’s recent annual strategy discussions, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing unnamed sources, and he has created a wish list of several European partners: Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and local rival Credit Suisse.
Weber has previously voiced his views about the need for the board to seek partners for inorganic growth and he had previously explored merger options with external consultants but had not raised the issue to board directors until now.
German Links
Deutsche Bank is currently Weber’s preferred choice, according to the report, and the German lender’s chief executive Christian Sewing has similar sentiments about UBS as a «medium-term option» though he wants to see its share price rise first.
German executive Weber has strong ties with the European Union’s largest economy, having previously served as the president of Germany's Bundesbank while also touted as a Deutsche Bank CEO candidate.
Just last year, the two banks reportedly explored a merger momentarily but did not make it out of initial stages due in part from stalled negotiations to combine their asset management businesses.
