JPMorgan Chase bankers who advised the government on the 4.5 per cent stake sale invited the Milan-based bank to participate, the people said, giving it the impression that Berlin welcomed its interest.

A merger of Italy's Unicredit and Germany's Commerzbank would add value for all stakeholders and create a much stronger competitor in the German banking market, Unicredit CEO Andrea Orcel told Handelsblatt in an interview published on Monday.