Full integration of Prudential Bank with BPI completed by H2

The full integration of Prudential Bank into the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) system is expected to be completed and fully operational by the start of this year’s second semester.

"The merger, including the full integration of our automation, is proceeding as planned," BPI president Aurelio Montinola III said during the formal launching yesterday of the Asian Bond Fund 2-Philippine Bond Index Fund (ABF2), the country’s first bond index trust fund to be managed by BPI Asset Management.

Montinola said the integration phase concerns electronic links between BPI’s system and the branch network of Prudential Bank. The physical structures and signages of the branches also remain to be completed.

Total capital outlay for the integration has been placed at P200 million.

BPI has a branch network of 707 and 1,300 ATMs allied with ExpressNet, while Prudential Bank has 187 branches and 52 ATMs.

BPI, the country’s second largest commercial bank, bought last year 91.6 percent of Prudential Bank from the the Santos family at a price of P746.43 per share, or a total amount of roughly P6.13 billion.

It did not issue debt instruments to raise funds to pay-off the Santos family. Instead, the bank will be tapping internally-generated funds.

The acquisition cemented the Ayala-led universal bank’s hold in second place behind Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.