Albania’s central bank said it has given its preliminary approval for the absorption of International Commercial Bank (ICBank), a subsidiary of Swiss-based ICB Financial Group Holdings, by local Union Bank.
After the completion of the merger by absorption, Union Bank will become full owner of ICBank, the Bank of Albania said in a statement late on Wednesday, following a meeting of its supervisory council.
In March, the central bank approved for the sale of ICBank to Union Bank. The transaction involves 100% of the voting shares of ICBank. The price of the deal was not disclosed.
Union Bank was the eighth largest bank in the country, holding 3.4% of the banking system’s total assets at the end of September 2018, according to data published by the Albanian Association of Banks (AAB) in January. ICBank held 0.7% of total assets with a network of six branches and 94 employees.
