Commerzbank is considering kicking off the long-awaited consolidation of the German banking market with an acquisition of regional bank Schmidtbank.
Both groups said yesterday they had begun talks to discuss "co-operating" in both retail and small-business banking.
But financial experts said a full-blown acquisition could well follow. One person close to Commerzbank said: "If all the gears mesh when the co-operation starts, that could be the basis for an acquisition."
Informal discussions between Germany's big banks about possible merger or acquisition projects have multiplied in recent months. Commerzbank and HVB talked over the Christmas break and Allianz's Dresdner Bank has also held preliminary discussions with HVB.
Government ministers have repeatedly urged the domestic banking sector to consolidate in order to see off the threat of acquisition by foreign groups.
