Commerzbank retains mBank – sales process terminated. „Transaction cannot be implemented at reasonable terms due to corona crisis.”

Polish mBank S.A. („mBank”), the first fully Internet-based bank in Poland, will remain part of the Commerzbank Group. „Commerzbank has decided to retain its majority stake of 69.3% in its Polish subsidiary and to terminate the sales process. Under the current market conditions which are dominated by the coronavirus crisis, a transaction doesn’t seem feasible at reasonable terms.”, according to the press release.

Commerzbank announced in September 2019 its intention to sell its majority stake in mBank. At the time the main objective of the sale was to significantly reduce risk-weighted assets and to release capital within the Group for a faster implementation of the Commerzbank 5.0 strategy. In the meantime, Commerzbank has achieved sufficient flexibility with regards to its Common Equity Tier 1 ratio.

“It is clear that we will only sell such a valuable asset as mBank if the terms are right. The current market environment which is marked by the corona crisis, does not allow for an attractive valuation in line with the underlying value of mBank,” said Bettina Orlopp, Chief Financial Officer of Commerzbank. „Our strong capital position gives us the leeway to implement our Commerzbank 5.0 strategy and make the planned investments without the need to sell mBank.”