Germany's two central co-operative banks, WGZ Bank and DZ Bank are to merge; the merger is designed to cut costs, build an economy of scale, boost capital by more than €500m, and help diversify the range of subsidiary products and services available to the local co-operative banks. The assets of WGZ Bank will be transferred to DZ Bank, the bigger of the two, and shareholders of WGZ Bank will be granted shares in DZ Bank in exchange. In a statement on its website, the German government said it was "pleased that the banks have agreed to merge their business operations into one single entity". The joint central institution is set for launch in August 2016 and will be called DZ Bank.
Germany's two central co-operative banks, WGZ Bank and DZ Bank are to merge; the merger is designed to cut costs, build an economy of scale, boost capital by more than €500m, and help diversify the range of subsidiary products and services available to the local co-operative banks. The assets of WGZ Bank will be transferred to DZ Bank, the bigger of the two, and shareholders of WGZ Bank will be granted shares in DZ Bank in exchange. The estimated value of the assets of the two banks is €501bn which means that together they will form Germany's third largest bank by assets after Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. The joint central institution is set for launch in August 2016 and will be called DZ Bank.