Vijaya Bank board approves merger proposal with Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank

NEW DELHI: The board of state-run Vijaya Bank on Saturday gave in-principle approval for its merger with Bank of Baroda along with another PSU lender Dena Bank.nnEarlier this month, the government announced the merger of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank to create the country?s second-largest public sector bank by assets and branches.nnAlso read: Mega bank mergers and the future of reformsnnThe board at their meeting held on Saturday decided to give its in-principle approval for amalgamation of Vijaya Bank along with Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank in line with the finance ministry?s proposal of 17 September, subject to all statutory approvals, Vijaya Bank said in a filing to stock exchanges.nn?Amalgamation would enable creation of a bank with business scale comparable to global banks and capable of competing effectively in India and globally,? it said. Greater scale and synergy would lead to cost-benefit, higher productivity and efficiency of the banking system as a whole, it added.nnPost-merger, the asset size of the new entity would be over Rs 14.5 lakh crore. The combined business of the amalgamated entities would make it the country?s second-largest public sector bank.nnWhile announcing the merger, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar had said the merged entity would have better financial strength.nnDena Bank?s net NPA ratio will be at 5.71%, significantly better than public sector banks? average of 12.13%, Kumar had said, adding, the provision coverage ratio would be at 67.5% against the average 63.7%. The cost to income ratio of the combined entity would come down to 48.94%, compared with the average 53.92%.nnThe amalgamation of the three banks would be through share swap, which will be a part of the scheme of merger.nnIn April 2017, State Bank had merged with itself five of its subsidiary banks and took over Bharatiya Mahila Bank, catapulting it among the top 50 global lenders with over $550 billion in combined assets.nnAfter the merger of BoB, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank, the number of public sector banks will come down to 19.nnSource: Press Trust of India