On 9 February, Konstantin Vaysman, Chairman of FUIB’s Management Board, gave a business lecture on Bank Mergers in Theory and in Practice. During his lecture Mr Vaysman provided details of the merger between FUIB and DONGORBANK that was successfully completed in 2011 and was the major M&A transaction in Ukraine’s banking system.

Vaysman described the merger from standpoints of all interested parties – customers, shareholders, general public, investors and the business community. Also, he dwelled on risks peculiar to bank mergers, ways to minimise them, and the special knowledge and techniques teams of FUIB and DONGORBANK personnel applied during the merger.

The merger process was supervised by the supervisory boards of both FUIB and DONGORBANK and a steering committee consisting of all the members of the management boards of the merging banks. Also, a project office comprised of Ernst & Young team members, an independent financial adviser and the banks’ key employees contributed greatly to the project’s success. The project office was in charge of the merger action plan development, coordination of actions taken, and control over their results.

Konstantin Vaysman, Chairman of the FUIB’s Management Board:

“The formula for successful merger is as follows: pursue ambitious goals, have faith, fight scepticism and work out a good plan. The merger should not be a goal in itself. If the company is not able to growth organically, no merger will increase shareholder return. The results of the merger between FUIB and DONGORBANK exceeded shareholders’ expectations; the merger process was smooth due to devotion and enthusiasm of the team that was confident of our success. We expect the merger expenses to pay back by mid-2012, and economies of scale over 2010-2012 of about USD 5 million.”

The merger between FUIB and DONGORBANK was successfully completed within a record short time frame of 9 months. As a result of the merger, FUIB grew significantly and entered Ukraine’s TOP 10 financial institutions. During integration the Bank managed not only to retain its existing customers, but increase its market share. During 2011 the Bank’s profit increased by 14%, and its assets almost doubled. As at 1 January 2012, FUIB was No 8 by assets and No 9 by equity.