Bettina Orlopp: The woman tasked with leading Commerzbank amid UniCredit takeover battle

Commerzbank announced Tuesday it has picked 10-year veteran, and current Chief Financial Officer Bettina Orlopp to helm the bank as chief executive as it seeks to fend off a potential hostile takeover from Italian bank UniCredit.

The bank has been on the defensive as UniCredit looks to become its largest shareholder, signaling the potential for a full takeover.

Earlier this month, the Milan-based bank started building its shareholding with a 9% stake in Commerzbank. UniCredit then announced this week it had acquired additional Commerzbank shares, taking its stake in the German lender to around 21%, and submitted a request to increase its holdings to 29.9%.

Senior officials at Commerzbank and the German government, which was the company's largest shareholder until UniCredit stepped in, have both said they oppose a hostile takeover. Orlopp will now be put in charge of leading the fight.

Commerzbank said in a late Tuesday statement that its supervisory board is aiming for current Chief Executive Manfred Knof to hand over his duties to Orlopp, "in the near future." The firm added that the board had agreed unanimously on Orlopp succeeding Knof after an internal and external search for candidates.

Later on Wednesday the bank announced Knof will leave the company at the end of the month on September 30.

Orlopp's contract is set out for five years, Commerzbank said, noting that the search for her replacement as CFO is still underway. The CFO said she was "looking forward to this new challenge," while also noting that "significant tasks lie ahead."

"Together with all our key partners, we will navigate through the challenges ahead of us successfully," she said.

Since March 2020, Orlopp has been Commerzbank's CFO, covering finance,