UCG Unicredit Spa

By Giulia Petroni

UniCredit and Alpha Services & Holdings have agreed to merge their subsidiaries in Romania and create a commercial partnership in Greece.

The Italian lender said Monday that the merger will create the third largest bank in the Romanian market with a combined 12% market share by total assets.

Alpha Bank Romania is expected to retain 9.9% of the combined entity share capital and receive a cash consideration of 300 million euros ($317.9 million). Closing is expected in 2024, subject to approvals.

In Greece, UniCredit said it will acquire a 51% stake in AlphaLife Insurance Company, the life insurance subsidiary of Alpha in the pension and savings segment. The final agreement is subject to a due-diligence process and regulatory approvals.

UniCredit also said it has submitted an offer to the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund to buy a 9% stake in Alpha.

The Romanian merger will have an impact on UniCredit's common equity tier 1 ratio of around 15 basis points and, together with the commercial partnership, is expected to add more than EUR100 million in incremental net profit on a run rate basis.

Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2023 03:12 ET (07:12 GMT)

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