PSB intends to complete the integration of SMP Bank by the beginning of 2024

Promsvyazbank (PSB) may merge SMP Bank by January 1, 2024. About this writes Kommersant, citing a source in the financial market and an interlocutor familiar with the situation at the bank.

One of the sources said that for the PSB integration to be effective, “massive optimization” would have to be done. According to him, it will be necessary to reduce at least 50% of the staff of SMP Bank. Another interlocutor did not rule out that the final percentage of reduction could be even greater.

As of mid-2021, the average headcount of SMP Bank was 2,380 people, while that of PSB was 12,700. More recent data is not available.

The source noted that the preservation of the network of SMP Bank branches is also in question. According to the Central Bank, the credit institution has 76 additional offices and seven branches, PSB has 812 additional offices, about 10 branches and 5 mobile offices.

Plans to join by January 1, 2024 were also confirmed by the PSB. They added that as a result of integration, the bank “will receive new clients in the SME and retail segments and increase its corporate portfolio.” Commenting on the possible cuts, the bank said that “they will focus on opportunities to optimize overlapping management and service functions.” They will also take into account “the representation of each bank’s offices in a particular region, the demand for certain branches from clients and the workload of the offices.”

As Kommersant notes, if the integration of SMP Bank takes place within the specified period, it will become the fourth bank consolidated by PSB this year. In the spring of 2023, the group annexed the Minbank, and in the summer – the State Bank of the LPR and the Central Republican Bank of the DPR.

On December 30, 2022, PSB completed the acquisition of SMP Bank, purchasing shares from Arkady and Boris Rotenberg. Kommersant sources claimedthat the value of the asset was 46 billion rubles. The transaction also included subsidiaries, including Mosoblbank (under reorganization by SPM Bank since 2014), SMP-Strakhovanie, factoring and leasing companies.