The ECB approved the merger of Nova Kreditna banka Maribor d.d. and fellow Slovenian lender KBS banka d.d., scheduled to take effect Jan. 3, 2017.

The merger will become legally effective the day it is entered into the court register, after which KBS banka will cease to exist as an independent legal entity and all of its assets, liabilities and rights will transfer to Nova KBM.

Once the deal is completed, the merged entity will operate as Nova KBM and will be headquartered in Maribor, Slovenia.

KBS banka is the former Raiffeisen Banka dd and was acquired by Apollo Global Management LLC and the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development in June. Apollo and the EBRD also own Nova KBM.