UniCredit's acquisition of Commerzbank could prompt Moody's to consider raising its rating on the Italian bank's riskier debt, the credit rating agency said on Wednesday. Moody's affirmed UniCredit's long-term senior unsecured debt rating at 'Baa1' - two notches above Italy's 'Baa3' rating and already as high as it can go under Moody's methodology.

The move by Moody’s is also notable because it puts Pilot’s debt rating at a level that is considered investment-grade. The Ba1 rating it had previously was not investment-grade. The S&P rating of BBB+ is three notches more than the cutoff for investment- versus non-investment-grade.

A senior German banker said there a several reasons why a takeover of Commerzbank AG by UniCredit SpA could be beneficial, demonstrating that the strong opposition to the potential deal by the country’s government isn’t a national consensus.

Moody's would consider hiking UniCredit's credit rating one notch above Italy's sovereign rating if it bought Commerzbank, depending on a number of factors including an ability to contain execution and operational risks,