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Citigroup wants Deutsche Bank { March 18 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1079419735450http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1079419735450
Warning on foreign offers for Deutsche Bank
By Peter Ehrlich in Berlin
Published: March 18 2004 1:43 | Last Updated: March 18 2004 1:43
Representatives of corporate Germany have warned the German chancellor against a foreign takeover of Deutsche Bank.
At a meeting with Gerhard Schröder, several chief financial officers of Dax-listed companies cautioned the chancellor that Germany's banking sector was still in need of a "national champion".
The meeting was attended among others by Karl-Gerhard Eick, chief financial officer of Deutsche Telekom; Werner Brandt, CFO of SAP; and representatives from Allianz, DaimlerChrysler and Siemens. The companies voiced their concern as Deutsche's big clients warned Mr Schröder of the consequences of a hostile takeover of the bank.
The companies attending the meeting, however, declined to comment on the details of the discussion. According to information obtained by FT Deutschland, the chief financial officers maintained Deutsche was the only German bank with the capacity for big international deals.
Mr Schröder had scheduled the meeting to talk about economic issues, which triggered a discussion about Deutsche. The discussion was in response to takeover rumours, one suggesting HSBC, the UK's biggest bank, was considering a bid, and another that the US's Citigroup, the world's biggest bank, was taking another hard look at the bank.
Deutsche said earlier in the year that it had held preliminary merger discussions with the US, but they terminated after Josef Ackermann, Deutsche's chief executive, realised the political impossibility of doing a deal.
Rumours of Citigroup's interest in Deutsche have persisted ever since Sandy Weill, Citigroup's chairman, last year asked Mr Schröder if he would stand in the way of a deal. Mr Schröder is said in the past to have had no objections to a deal, although the German government is denying any form of approval.
Berlin is in favour of consolidation in the German banking sector, but would block a hostile takeover. It would not disapprove of a joint venture or merger in Europe, however.
"We have to find a European answer to US challenges," said Mr Ackermann last week.
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