Bancherul - BANCI / ENGLISH / Weinviertler Sparkasse and Erste Bank to merge

Weinviertler Sparkasse and Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG (Erste Bank Oesterreich) are scheduled to merge in September 2011 to form one credit institution, said the bank in a press release.

This decision was also approved by the supervisory board of the foundation of the minority shareholder “Privatstiftung Weinviertler Sparkasse” (0.51%) yesterday evening. Since 2009, Weinviertler Sparkasse has been a 99.49% subsidiary of Erste Bank Oesterreich and the merger is the logical next step of the cooperation. The entire amount of the sales proceeds makes it possible for the private foundation to continue with the activities of its foundation’s purpose of “supporting and promoting the talents and capabilities of people, above all, in the district of Hollabrunn especially in the areas of economy, infrastructure and society; art, culture and education; environment and health”.

Peter Bosek, responsible member of the management board of Erste Bank Oesterreich said: “We want to bundle our strengths by taking this step. The customers of Weinviertler Sparkasse now have 1,000 branches in Austria at their disposal as well as extended advisory hours from 7:00 to 19:00 hrs.“The formal decision for the merger still depends on the approval of the competent authorities and of the supervisory board of Erste Bank. The date planned for the merger is September 2011.

For the roughly 21,000 customers of Weinviertler Sparkasse, the routing code and account numbers will change due to the merger, but the account managers and local services will stay the same, of course. The Sparkasse’s company name will change to “Erste Bank”.

“Little will change for the staff of Weinviertler Sparkasse. We continue to view ourselves as a regional savings bank, which works to support the financial prosperity of the region and the people that live there,” explained Andreas Kaim, member of the management board of Weinviertler Sparkasse. “The employees that work in administration now have the career opportunities of the entire Erste Group. We do not want to lose the services of any employee. Our employees are excellently trained and we owe the strong position of Weinviertler Sparkasse in the region to their commitment.”

Weinviertler Sparkasse has 10 branch offices in Hollabrunn, Retz, Eggenburg, Göllersdorf, Wullersdorf, Sitzendorf, Guntersdorf, Zellerndorf, Pulkau, and Sigmundsherberg with a total of 90 employees that serve some 21,000 customers. The total assets of the Sparkasse were EUR 441 million as of 31 December 2010.