Italian regional lender Credito Emiliano (Credem) has signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase Cassa di Risparmio di Cento (CR Cento).
Headquartered in the Ferrara region, CR Cento is a major lender that has been providing support to the territory for over 160 years.
As of the end of 2019, it served over 87,000 customers throughout 460 people, a network of 47 branches and three private and wealth management centres.
With the merger, Credem is expected to accelerate its growth, using CR Cento’s market shares in Ferrara and to its presence in the provinces of Bologna, Modena and Ravenna.
On the other hand, CR Cento is expected to benefit from the wide range of services offered by Credem.
The merger of CR Cento into Credem is subject to approval from the Supervisory Authority and the Authority Guarantor of Competition and of the Market (AGCM) approval.
In April 2020, Credem has entered into exclusive talks with CR Cento for the transaction.
CR Cento to become fully integrated in 2023
Once CR Cento becomes fully integrated in 2023 into Credem, it is expected to add more than €15m ($18m) of net profit, with additional revenues of some €9m and cost savings of €13m.
Credem chairman Lucio Igino Zanon di Valgiurata said: “I believe the signing of this agreement is particularly important, because it represents Credem’s return on the market as a player of a merger operation and because of the quality of the bank that we are counting to integrate soon within our Banking Group.
“In recent years, Credem pursued an expansive growth strategy that led us to invest materially in our people and facilities to provide customers with excellent services. This strategy enabled us to increase Loans to Customers by 54% over the last 10 years, equal to €9.6 billion in absolute value, and Deposits by almost 120%, representing more than €15.2 billion.”
