Bloomberg News
FRANKFURT - Dresdner Bank AG's chief executive officer said he is interested in strengthening the cooperation with France's BNP Paribas SA now that Dresdner's plan to merge with Deutsche Bank AG has collapsed.
"We are holding talks to ensure we are adequately positioned in a changed market environment," said Dresdner's CEO Bernd Fahrholz, at a banking conference in Frankfurt Tuesday. Mr. Fahrholz, who replaced Bernhard Walter last month, said the negotiations are "at an early stage."
In April, Dresdner and Deutsche Bank canceled their plans to merge.
Dresdner and BNP Paribas, which own about 1% of each other, cooperate in developing regions such as Eastern Europe. Raising the cross-shareholdings is "one of the possible options," Mr. Fahrholz said.
Michael Pebereau, chairman of BNP, said in April that Dresdner was the preferred German partner for France's largest bank. Dresdner earlier bought a 3.6% stake in Credit Lyonnais SA.
