His former boss, Sergio Ermotti, returned to UBS to integrate Credit Suisse. Now, ex-UBS manager Andrea Orcel is handling his first bank takeover as CEO of Unicredit.
Unicredit and Greece's Alpha Bank have reached a commercial agreement, with the Italian bank seeking to acquire a 9 percent stake in the institution and a majority stake in its Romanian subsidiary.
The «Financial Times» (behind paywall) reported the deal requires the approval of the Greek government. If Unicredit gets the green light, it will be the institution's first acquisition under CEO Andrea Orcel, who become CEO in 2021.
Elephant wedding failed to materialize.
In his career as an investment banker - especially as the longstanding head of the UBS investment bank - Orcel was involved in numerous significant transactions. He explicitly tried to push the classic corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) business at the major Swiss bank.
Last year, Unicredit was rumored to be interested in Banco BMP, the country's third-largest financial institution, but nothing has come of it. Now Orcel has found something further away, in Greece.
