*

UniCredit's CEO has wanted to explore tie-up with

Commerzbank

*

Deal would be ambitious attempt at cross-border

consolidation

*

Opposition to a deal is fierce in Germany

(Updates Sept 25 story on Sept 26 adding investor comment in

paragraph 8)

By Tom Sims

FRANKFURT, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Bettina Orlopp will take

over as chief executive officer of Germany's Commerzbank

in the near future, making her one of the country's

highest-profile bankers during a tumultuous time for its No. 2

lender.

The development announced late on Tuesday comes as the bank

fends off advances from Italian bank UniCredit, which

has acquired a sizeable stake in Commerzbank and wants to

explore a takeover.

UniCredit's swoop is the most ambitious yet at a

pan-European bank merger, but it faces considerable political

hurdles in Germany. The bank's management, employees and the

nation's chancellor, Olaf Scholz, have voiced opposition to a

potential takeover.

Commerzbank, with more than 25,000 business customers,

almost a third of German foreign trade payments and more than

42,000 staff, is a linchpin of the German economy.

"While we have a strategy that is effective, significant

tasks lie ahead," Orlopp said.

Orlopp, currently chief financial officer, will take over

from Manfred Knof, who announced this month he would step down

as CEO at the end of 2025.

His announcement came hours before UniCredit revealed it was

building a stake in Commerzbank, raising questions about whether

Knof was best placed to lead talks on any tie-up.

The decision to make Orlopp the new chief executive so

swiftly is positive, said Andreas Thomae, a corporate governance

expert at Deka, a large investor in the bank. He called her an

ideal candidate and assertive.

Orlopp, who had also served as Commerzbank's deputy CEO,

last week sought to inject calm and said the government should

hold on to its remaining 12% stake in Commerzbank after

UniCredit began purchasing shares.

"We have all been very surprised by the process," Orlopp

told journalists in Berlin. "That's why the most important thing

now is simply to sort it out calmly, to think about what's on

the table now and how to deal with it."

Orlopp assumed her current role in 2020 during another

trying period for the bank, when the U.S. investor Cerberus, a

major shareholder at the time, revolted and pressed for changes

in the bank's strategy and management.

The CEO decision came amid a two-day meeting of the bank's

supervisory and management boards outside Frankfurt.

The bank said its supervisory board had conducted a search

both internally and externally but in the end chose Orlopp

unanimously and gave her a five year contract.

A search is now on for a new finance chief but Orlopp will

continue in the role for the time being.

Knof joined Commerzbank in 2021 and cut thousands of jobs

and closed hundreds of branches to restore the bank's to profit.

Orlopp has been with Commerzbank since 2014 and on the board

since 2017. She was with McKinsey for 19 years.