Regulator approves one of two options for B&N Bank and MDM Bank merger
MOSCOW. Aug 31 (Interfax) - Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) has approved one of two possible options for the merger of B&N Bank and MDM Bank , B&N Bank said in a press release.
The B&N Bank Group has submitted two applications to the regulator that provide for two different options for the legal merger of the two banks. In the first case, B&N Bank would be merged into MDM Bank, though the merged bank would operate under the B&N Bank brand because MDM Bank would be renamed B&N Bank. In the second case, MDM Bank would be merged into B&N Bank.
The regulator has now approved the first application, which calls for B&N Bank, along with two other group banks - the former Europlan Bank and B&N Bank Murmansk - to be merged into MDM Bank.
B&N Bank expects the second application, calling for MDM Bank and the two other banks to be merged into B&N Bank, to be approved soon.
The final merger option will be chosen at an extraordinary general meeting of B&N Bank shareholders on October 7.
The first option is preferable for the B&N Bank Group, according to preliminary estimates. It would make it possible to complete the merger process most quickly.
The merger is expected to be completed by the end of 2016. Regardless of the selected structure of the legal merger, the merged bank will operate under the B&N Bank brand.
B&N Bank and MDM Bank already operate under an integrated management system and have a harmonized product line.
The restructuring process will not inconvenience customers, as the terms of signed contracts, including deposits and loans, will remain the same and will not have to be redone, the bank said. Issued bank cards will continue to be valid as before.
MDM Bank was Russia's 32nd largest bank by assets at the end of the first half of 2016, while B&N Bank ranked 14th, according to the Interfax-100 ranking of the country's lenders. The beneficiaries of B&N Bank are Mikail Shishkhanov and Mikhail Gutseriev.