The Bank for Investment and Development Vietnam (BIDV) and the Mekong Housing Bank (MHB) signed the official merger agreement on May 25, completing the integration of MHB into BIDV.

As a result, MHB’s network of 44 branches and 187 offices throughout Vietnam will operate under the name BIDV from May 25 onwards.

BIDV General Director Phan Duc Tu said the merger helped the bank increase its total assets to more than 700 trillion VND (32.1 billion USD) and its charter capital to 34 trillion VND (1.56 billion USD) in line with the expansion of its office network to almost 1,000 branches with 24,000 employees.

A swap ratio of 1:1 is being applied to the merger, which maintains the status quo and guarantees all the rights and interests of account holders, shareholders and employees, Tu noted.

BIDV Chairman Tran Bac Ha explained further that the merger was part of the Government’s Credit Institutions Restructuring Plan for 2011-2015.

This move will not only expand BIDV’s network of offices and clients, but also boost its capacity to provide services for the agricultural sector in the Mekong Delta region, which was one MHB’s strengths, he added.-VNA