Dutch banking group ABN Amro wants to continue expanding in Italy following its recent acquisition of Banca Antonveneta and hopes to turn the mid-size bank into one of Italy's biggest lenders, according to a report.
In an interview with the Financial Times, ABN managing board member Dolf Collee said that the integration was going well, despite the problems the bank experienced during the takeover. The bid triggered a scandal in Italy’s banking sector over opposition to takeovers by foreign banks, leading to the resignation of the country’s central bank governor Antonio Fazio.
Mr Collee said that the restructuring would deliver more than the E160 million in annual savings targeted from full-year 2008. Although he said that the bank would wait until the integration is complete before considering acquisitions, media speculation has highlighted Capitalia as a takeover target. ABN already has a 7.7% stake in the Italian lender and could merge the banks.