MANILA, Philippines – The merger of Lucio Tan banks Philippine National Bank (PNB) and Allied Banking Corp. is scheduled to take place on February 9.

PNB told the Philippine Stock Exchange in a disclosure on Tuesday, January 22 that its board of directors approved the date, which is still subject to the approval of Allied’s board.

PNB and Allied are finally pushing through with the transaction after getting the nods of regulators.

The transaction will be done via share swap, with PNB as the surviving entity.

PNB acting president Omar Byron Mier said after the completion of the merger, PNB will focus on consolidating, integrating and rationalizing their operations.

“We will look in to areas where we are not making money and close those operations and then shift to other model, or cut costs, and improve revenues and technology,” he said.

In the first 9 months of 2012, PNB reported a 92.5% growth in net income to P3.8 billion, on the back of higher income from loans and gains from investments, and reduction in interest expense. – Rappler.com