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UniCredit Holds Controlling Stake in HypoVereinsbank

DW staff /AFP (ncy)October 28, 2005

Italian banking giant UniCredit said Friday that following the expiry of its takeover offer for HypoVereinsbank it held a total 88.14 percent in Germany's second-biggest bank.

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Unicredit offered five of its own shares for every HVB share heldImage: AP

In a mandatory legal filing published in the German press, UniCredit said it had amassed a stake of 88.14 percent in HypoVereinsbank (HVB) as of midnight on Monday. Under the terms of the offer, Unicredit had been offering five of its own shares for every HVB share held.

The Italian bank has also launched separate public offers to take over the outstanding shares in HVB's Polish and Austrian units. The offer for Bank Austria-Creditanstalt (BA-CA) runs until October 31.

The merger of UniCredit and HVB will create the fourth-biggest bank in the 12-country euro zone, with a network of around 7,000 branches. It will be the market leader in eastern Europe.

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