South Korea-based banking group Hana Financial Group will complete merging its two units Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) before October.
The banking group announced the move after the labour union of KEB agreed on the terms of the merger.
Hana Financial had acquired KEB from US-based buyout fund Loan Star for $3.43bn and has been considering a merger since the acquisition.
However, the proposal met with strict opposition from the KEB union members who claimed that the company had promised the operation of an independent management for five years.
Once the merger is complete, the new entity is likely to become the country’s largest bank in terms of assets with an estimated KRW290trn ($256.2bn) as of end-March.
Yonhap News Agency quoted Hana Financial as saying in a filing: "(We) reached an agreement on the principle of the integration, name of the united bank, the procedure and synergy sharing of the integration, and guarantee of job security.
"We also decided to implement the agreement with sincerity based on the principle of good faith."
The group has also filed a request for approval for the merger with the country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC). The FSC has said that the financial group and the KEB union members will be obligatory.
Image: After the merger, the new entity would have assets worth KRW290trn ($256.2bn). Photo: courtesy of adamr/ freedigitalphotos.net.