FRANKFURT: DZ Bank AG and WGZ-Bank AG, which act as central banks for local cooperative lenders in Germany, agreed to merge in a deal that would create the country's third-biggest lender, Manager-Magazin reported, without saying how it obtained the information.
The enlarged entity would have combined assets of almost 500 billion euros (US$535bil) and would take the shape of a holding company under which the merged bank and their subsidiaries, Union Investment, Schwaebisch Hall and R+V would operate, according to the report.