The Italian and German supervisory authorities, after a top-level meeting in Rome on 28 June, coordinated their respective procedures for authorization, which was granted on 21 July after a thorough technical investigation that in some parts included joint work by the two institutions. The exchange tender offer is expected to start at the end of August and close at the end of October.
The HVB group consists of the German parent company (the country’s second largest bank in terms of assets) and a number of subsidiary banks, mostly located in Central and Eastern Europe; the most important are Bank Austria (the largest bank in Austria) and BPH (the fourth-largest bank in Poland). The combination would create one of the largest banking groups in the euro area.