UniCredit CEO told investors it has until March to improve Banco BPM bid

MILAN (Reuters) – UniCredit has until March to evaluate improving its takeover bid for Banco BPM, CEO Andrea Orcel told an investor call on Wednesday according to a person who attended the virtual meeting.

UniCredit declined to comment.

With a potential move on Commerzbank in stand-by due to a political vacuum and a German rule that would force UniCredit to pay in cash if it bid for the rest of Commerzbank within six months of crossing a 5% ownership threshold, Orcel is targeting smaller domestic peer Banco BPM.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Alvise Armellini)