January 12 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's central bank said it has given its consent to the absorption of local lender CIBANK by United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), both subsidiaries of Belgium's KBC Group.
The central bank's approval is contingent on the acquisition by UBB of all CIBANK assets and its compliance with the supervisory requirements for the protection of the interests of the depositors and the other creditors of the two lenders, it said in a statement on Thursday.
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The shareholders of the two banks approved the merger in December.
In October, the two lenders signed an agreement under which UBB will absorb CIBANK. Under the terms of the agreement, CIBANK shares will be converted into shares in UBB at a ratio of 1:0.78419, CIBANK said in a filing to the country’s commercial register at the time.
As a result of the merger, UBB’s capital will be increased by 17.87 million levs ($10.8 million/9.1 million euro).
Currently, UBB’s capital stands at 75.96 million levs, according to data from the commercial register.
After absorbing CIBANK, UBB will become Bulgaria’s third largest bank by assets after UniCredit Bulbank and DSK Bank.
In 2007, KBC Group acquired 75% of Cibank, and in 2010 increased its shareholding interest to 100%.
In June 2017, KBC Group completed the acquisition of a 99.91% stake in UBB and 100% of leasing company Interlease from National Bank of Greece for a total consideration of 610 million euro.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)