Oriental Bank of Commerce’s (OBC) Board has given its in-principle approval for the amalgamation of the bank with Punjab National Bank (PNB).

The Board took this decision at a meeting held in Gurugram on Thursday.

“We wish to inform that the Board of Directors of the Bank in its meeting held on September 18 has considered and accorded its ‘in-principle approval’ for the amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank, and commencement of the amalgamation process, subject to all applicable approvals,” OBC said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

It may be recalled that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank as part of mega public sector bank merger plan. This announcement was made on August 30.

The PNB Board had recently given its in-principle approval for the three-way amalgamation between itself, OBC and United Bank of India. The bank has also embarked on a massive consultant/advisor recruitment drive to ensure seamless implementation of merger process.

Revised rating

Meanwhile, rating agency ICRA has revised the rating outlook of OBC’s Bonds from “Stable” to “Rating watch with positive implications”.

This has been done in view of the of Finance Ministry’s announcement regarding the proposed amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank.

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