August 10, 2009, 15:29 / Business

The merger of MDM and Ursa Bank is completed

The new bank will retain the MDM name, but will rebrand. The cost of changing signs in branches alone can amount to 100 million rubles. Anna Baraulina Elena Khutornykh

D. Grishkin

Shareholders of MDM Bank and Ursa Bank announced the completion of the bank merger procedure. The merged bank will be called MDM Bank. It will rebrand by the end of the year. The bank's logo will be updated, said bank co-owner Igor Kim. He did not disclose details. But an employee of the merged bank told Vedomosti that the cost of changing signs in branches alone could amount to 100 million rubles.

The United Bank, according to its own data, now ranks third in Russia in terms of the size of its branch network. In 2009-2010 "big" MDM plans to open another 400 new branches.

The assets of the new bank according to IFRS now amount to more than 420 billion rubles, and its capital is about 65 billion rubles. (including the Latvian “daughter” of MDM), Vladislav Khokhlov, a member of the board of the merged bank, told Vedomosti.

The founder of Ursa Bank, Igor Kim, will own 10.5% in the merged bank, and the main shareholder of MDM Bank, Sergei Popov, will own 54%.

After some time, the bank plans to launch an options program, said Oleg Vyugin, chairman of the bank’s board of directors. The ratio of retail and corporate business is planned to be maintained at approximately 50/50.