Banco Popolare Societa Cooperativa Scarl (BIT:BP) signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl (BIT:PMI) for €5 billion on March 23, 2016. The combined bank will be headquartered in Milan and Verona and named Banco-BPM. The current shareholders of Banco Popolare Societa Cooperativa Scarl will own 54.626% stake in the combined bank while the remaining 46.374% stake will be held by the shareholders of Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl. The resulting company will operate both as bank and as a holding company and be listed on the Milan stock exchange with its legal headquarters in Milan. Uilca has approved the merger with Banco Popolare. The transaction will result in the formation of a new company named Banco BPM Società per Azioni. The current Chief Executive Officer of Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl, Giuseppe Castagna, will assume the role of new Chief Executive in the combined entity. Banco Popolare's chairman, Carlo Fratta Pasini will serve as chairman of the board of the combined bank. Banco Popolare Chief Executive Officer, Pier Francesco Saviotti will initially serve as chairman of an executive committee but retire after completing the deal. The new bank’s board will be made up of 19 members for the first three years, after which it will drop to 15 members. The deal also envisages spinning-off some of the banks' branches in Lombardy into an entity that will remain separate from the main group for three years. As part of the condition to transaction put by European Central Bank, Banco Popolare will carry out a capital increase of €1 billion. The transaction is subject to approval by shareholders of both Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano, with an expected voting to be taken place on November 1, 2016. The deal received approval from the European Central Bank. As of May 24, 2016, the Board of Directors of Banco Popolare and Banca Popolare di Milano approved the transaction. As of July 2, 2016, the exchange ratio has been fixed at one for 6.386. As of July 20, 2016, Italy's competition authority approved the deal. As of September 9, 2016, Bank of Italy has approved the merger. As of October 17, 2016, Banco Popolare’s shareholders and Banco Popolare Societa Cooperativa Scarl (BIT:BP) shareholders approved the merger. As of December 13, 2016, the transaction is expected to become effective on January 1, 2017. Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziaro SpA, Colombo & Associati and Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisor to Banco Popolare. Citigroup and Lazard acted as financial advisor to Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl. Carlo Pavesi, Alessandro Cipriani and Giorgio Groppi of Gatti Pavesi Bianchi acted as legal advisor to Banco Popolare Societa Cooperativa Scarl. Giuseppe Lombardi, Ugo Molinari, Federico Bonetti and Pietro Ferretti of Studio Legale Lombardi Molinari Segni and Studio Marchetti acted as legal advisor to Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl. Mediobanca SpA and Bank of America Merrill Lynch also acted as global co-ordinator for the capital increase. Banco Popolare Societa Cooperativa Scarl (BIT:BP) completed the acquisition of Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl (BIT:PMI) on January 2, 2017.