Surana & Surana International Attorneys Advises Allahabad Bank For Merger With Indian Bank
In August 2019, the Finance Ministry announced the merger of Allahabad Bank (AB) with Indian Bank (IB) and the merger is likely to be not affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This 2-way integration in the second round of mergers of Indian PSB's, to be effective from April 1, 2020, makes Indian Bank the 7th largest public sector bank in the country with business size of about INR 8,080 billion (US$ 110 billion) and a combined network of 6104 branches.
Surana & Surana International Attorneys (SSIA) were appointed by Kolkata headquartered Allahabad Bank to conduct total due diligence for their merger into the Chennai Head Quartered Indian Bank.
SSIA provided advice on the draft Scheme of Amalgamation, transaction advisory including advice on all required statutory/regulatory processes, and carrying out legal due diligence of the anchor bank (IB). The bank appreciated SSIA and its dedicated team of multi-disciplinary professionals for satisfactorily completing the assignment within a tight deadline.
Success in earlier mergers and acquisition assignments, including successfully representing Vijaya Bank in their amalgamation with Bank of Baroda and Dena Bank (India's first ever 3–way Public Sector Bank merger) were key factors in the firm being selected for this assignment. These mergers are part of the government's strategy to promote consolidation in the banking & finance sector weighed down by non-performing assets. This exercise will see 5 large banks emerge from 13 smaller banks.
