The combination will be carried out with the folding of Banka Celje into Abanka Vipa as part of broader restructuring at the banks which were fully nationalised last year following state bailouts.

The Slovenian Sovereign Holding as the owner cleared the merger at the end of May and it is expected that Banka Slovenije will not have objections as the measure was envisaged in the bailout programme.

The new bank, which will have a market share of around 12%, will be headquartered in Ljubljana called Abanka after the merger is completed, presumably in the final quarter of the year.

Under an EU state aid decision, the merged bank needs to be privatised by mid-2019.