Banca Ifis, work progresses on integration of illimity

The construction site for the integration between Banca Ifis and illimity officially started last July and will continue at full speed until the autumn of 2026, when the merger between the two institutions is expected to materialise. Once the merger is complete, the new Ifis-illimity reality will be born, destined to operate under a dual brand: the Ifis brand for the corporate segment and the illimity brand for retail. In the background, there will be a further piece of private and wealth management, entrusted to the Fürstenberg brand.

Outlining the prospects of the new group is chairman Ernesto Fürstenberg Fassio, speaking at the 14th Npl Meeting, hosted at Villa Fürstenberg in Mestre. "The merger by incorporation of illimity into Banca Ifis will be completed by autumn next year" and has "a strong strategic rationale: we have acquired the number one competitor. Now we want to quickly reverse the cost-income ratio, create economies of scale, and enhance internal talent'. The banker took office as chairman of the board of illimity this week and met all the staff of the bank founded by Passera. It was a first contact meeting, useful to make himself known and to give some key messages to the newly acquired bank. The banker certainly found 'great quality' among the group's top management and emphasised how the new bank resulting from the merger could take on a leading role in the Italian financial system. The future name? The idea is 'to call the retail bank Ifis illimity and the commercial bank Ifis Impresa or Ifis Business'.

In the meantime, the teams of the two banks are hard at work: 14 operational sites, coordinated directly by Fürstenberg Fassio himself as president of the integration committee, with vice-president Rosalba Benedetto in the role of team leader and ceo Frederik Geertman at the head of the strategic hubs. In parallel, the due diligence on illimity's balance sheet, carried out by Ifis alongside that of PwC on behalf of the ECB, continues.

As of today, the announced synergies of EUR 75 million are confirmed, although 'as we move forward with due diligence we will be able to figure out whether to say something more specific,' Geertman says. The share of benefits, 50 million on the cost side and 25 million on the revenue side, could change in light of the synergies on the funding side, which could improve in light of the 'increased frequency of issues'. The timing of the industrial plan, on the other hand, remains to be defined, and is not expected to be short. Not least because in the meantime the strategic review of the assets of illimity and its subsidiaries is underway to redesign the group's perimeter. "We are taking a bit of a breather," Geertman clarifies. "I expect to present the plan by 2026, while still updating the market with information on our performance and decisions. No hurry, however: 'We prefer to evaluate carefully, especially when an asset does not yet generate profits but may have strategic value'. With the same secular approach, Geertman also keeps the door open to possible further extraordinary transactions, although 'there is nothing on the table today'.

The attention at the top levels of Banca Ifis is then dedicated to the development of the private and wealth management project. With the acquisition of Euclidea, Banca Ifis is looking at the launch of "Furstenberg", an initiative that will not be a real division but a pole to grow in the long term that will be based on the Sim and will dialogue with the large basin represented by Rendimax customers. "The project excites us a lot, we are reasoning on the best way to enhance Euclidea Sim". A project destined not to enter into direct competition with other more solid banks, but with objectives, says Vice-President Benedetto, that are 'certainly ambitious'.