According to Intesa, the deal, which has already been approved by the companies’ shareholders, will create the largest bank in Italy by market capitalization and number of branches.
Intesa had to gain further approval for the merger, which will be effective January 1, 2006, from its long-standing shareholder Credit Agricole. As a result, Intesa is to sell its Cassa di Risparmio di Parma e Piacenza and Banca Popolare FriulAdria subsidiaries and 193 Intesa branches to Credit Agricole for a total consideration of E6 million.
The antitrust regulator has stipulated a number of conditions for the merger, including that Intesa and Sanpaolo must sell a total of 748 branches. It also stated that Intesa’s divestitures to Credit Agricole must be completed by October 12, 2007
In a joint statement, the companies said that the authority had deemed their measures to avoid the establishment or strengthening of any dominant positions to be sufficient. They also stated that the actions carried out to fulfill the commitments will be disclosed to the market at a later date.
