RLB Oberösterreich integrates the Salzburger Landes-Hypothekenbank with Binder Grösswang into «JUVE
Raiffeisen-Landesbank Oberösterreich has fully integrated its subsidiary Landes-Hypothekenbank Salzburg. Both institutes now operate under one roof. The supervisory authorities had approved the merger of the institute in 2021, and the project was now completed in September.
The two institutes made the decision to merge in 2018, and the majority of the shares in Hypo Salzburg belonged to RLB Oberösterreich in advance. As a result, RLB acquired the remaining shares from the other shareholders in December 2019. The regulatory authorities approved this acquisition in February 2021, the closing took place in March.
For the merger, following the takeover, regulatory proceedings were conducted before the European Central Bank and the Financial Market Authority. After their approval, the merger came to an end in September when it was entered in the commercial register. Due to the size of RLB Upper Austria, the European Central Bank is directly responsible for its supervisory authority.
After the merger, Hypo Salzburg will continue to exist as a brand of RLB Oberösterreich. At the end of 2020, the balance sheet total of RLB Upper Austria was 48.6 billion euros, and the bank was also able to post a pre-tax profit for the year of 181.8 million euros. RLB Oberösterreich currently has 1,755 employees, plus 308 employees who were previously employed by Hypo Salzburg.
Adviser to RLB Upper Austria
Binder Grösswang (Vienna): Gottfried Gassner (corporate law), Dr. Stefan Frank (Financial Regulatory Law)
In-house law (Linz): Reinhard Trinkl (Deputy Head of Legal Department), Dr. Armin Leitner (Head of BWG Compliance)
Background: In the past, Binder Grösswang has repeatedly advised RLB Upper Austria, including on regulatory issues. The Viennese corporate law partner Gassner and the regulatory law specialist Frank has been at the institute’s side from the start of the project. In the course of the transaction and the merger, the two lawyers advised on issues of structuring and regulatory law, among other things, and conducted the proceedings before the regulatory authorities.
During the entire merger process, the Binder Grösswang lawyers worked closely with the in-house lawyers at RLB Upper Austria. At the beginning of the merger process, This took over the rest of the shares in Hypo Salzburg from the shareholders at the time. The legal department with its contacts to the supervisory authorities was also closely involved in matters of supervisory law. (Michael Forst)