YEREVAN, 12 June. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Commission for Protection of Competition CPC) by its decision dated 6 June allowed the merger of Ardshinbank CJSC and HSBC Bank Armenia CJSC, having concluded that it will not lead to restriction of competition and violation of consumer rights.
A statement on the CPC website says that based on the applications filed by the companies on 27 March this year, merger evaluation proceedings were initiated.
‘The parties agreed that Ardshinbank CJSC will acquire 100% of HSBC Europe B.V.’s stake in the authorised capital of HSBC Bank Armenia CJSC,’ the statement said.
On 6 February this year, Ardshinbank announced that it had reached an agreement with HSBC Europe B.V., a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, to acquire its subsidiary HSBC Bank Armenia.
It was said that the merger is aimed at increasing its high quality client base and highly skilled team of client managers and employees.
In turn, HSBC Bank Armenia said that the decision was made in order to reallocate capital in global directions.
The transaction is subject to regulatory and antitrust approval and is expected to be finalised within the next 12 months. -0-