November 21 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria’s CIBANK and United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), both subsidiaries of Belgium's KBC Group are expected to fully complete merging their processes by the end of 2018, the CEO of both banks and country manager for KBC told SeeNews.
"We are in the middle of the process, which we expect to be completed by the end of 2018," Petar Andronov, CEO of UBB, Cibank and country manager of KBC Group, told SeeNews on the sidelines of the Banks and the Business conference in Sofia.
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In October, Bulgaria’s CIBANK and United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), both subsidiaries of Belgium's KBC Group, 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.
"We are preparing to launch the most up-to-date online banking service in the country," Andronov noted, adding there will be other interesting developments in the bank's services portfolio which will be revealed at a later stage.
After UBB absorbs CIBANK, it will become Bulgaria’s third largest bank by assets after UniCredit Bulbank and DSK Bank.
In 2007, KBC Group acquired 75% of Bulgaria's Cibank, and in 2010 increased its stake to 100% of the bank's capital.
In June 2017, KBC Group completed the acquisition of UBB and leasing company Interlease from the National Bank of Greece for a total consideration of 610 million euro ($714.9 million).
($=0.8532 euro)
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