UniCredit announces that, having received all necessary approvals, it has finalised the acquisition of Aion Bank and Vodeno. The value of the transaction was €376 million.

The Italian bank's desire to acquire Aion Bank and Vodeno was announced last July. At that time, a binding agreement was concluded to purchase 100 percent of the shares in both entities. However, for the transaction to go through, approvals from the relevant authorities were required. This was granted by the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) in November.

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In its announcement regarding the finalisation of the acquisition, UniCredit indicates that it will support the bank's organic growth, as well as its entry into new markets and the gaining of new customer segments. The transaction is also expected to demonstrate the bank's increased commitment to digital banking, one of the first steps leading to UniCredit's independence from external providers by relying on its new technology resources.

As emphasised, the technologies and capabilities that Aion Bank and Vodeno bring can be fully integrated into the processes and procedures of a developed bank like UniCredit. This is expected to result in a digital offering combining the provision of such a positive customer experience as when interacting with a neobank with the advantages of financial strength and regulatory oversight characterizing a traditional player.

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These assumptions are already reflected in pilot programmes. As a first step, a re-entry into the Polish market is planned, as well as expansion into neighbouring Western European countries and offering embedded finance solutions. - In addition to building on Aion Bank's licence from the European Central Bank and its well-established proposition for retail and SME customers, we can also extend the current offering that Aion and Vodeno have for Banking as a Service solutions to key European markets, including Germany and Poland. This would allow the bank to deploy its services - from accounts, deposits, and loans to payments and loyalty programmes - directly on digital non-banking platforms, UniCredit writes in a release.