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BT takeover talks denied
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October 26, 1998: 11:54 a.m. ET
Deutsche Bank CEO rebuffs rumor: 'There were no takeover discussions'
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Bankers Trust shares fell Monday after comments from Deutsche Bank's top executive led traders to conclude that a rumored merger between the two firms isn't likely to materialize.
In an interview with German weekly Der Spiegel, Deutsche CEO Rolf Breuer brushed aside questions about Bankers Trust, pinpointed by a Financial Times report as a party to merger talks.
"There is nothing I could tell the shareholders" about the reports, Breuer said. "In this industry, everyone speaks with everyone else, but there were no takeover discussions."
Bankers Trust stock (BT) fell 4-1/2 to 62-3/8 on the news.
Deutsche earlier had refused to comment on the Oct. 20 Financial Times report, which cited unnamed sources as saying the bank was looking to buy the New York-based investment house.
Traditionally, speculation links J.P. Morgan with Deutsche as a prospective investment banking partner.
Rather than look for alliances within the U.S. financial community, Breuer told Der Spiegel that Deutsche likely would seek opportunities to help it take advantage of its position within the united Euro-based economy.
"The large U.S. investment banks are tremendously strong because they have the strongest capital market of the world as their home territory," Breuer said.
"We have another strength. Our homeland market is Euro country, and we are only beginning to understand what that will mean," he added. "Therefore, we are likely to develop our investment banking parallel with the development of the European capital market, where we have a homeland advantage."
Breuer also told the magazine that global market losses would force Deutsche to join other key financial institutions in cutting its payroll. The bank will lay off "a few hundred" workers, he said.
Deutsche is the first German financial institution to report such job cuts as a result of the year's economic turmoil. Market conditions also are expected to cause the bank to announce stark earnings losses when it releases its year-to-date results Thursday. 
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