BPER Banca, an Italian banking group, agreed to acquire 400 out of 500 banking branches of Intesa Sanpaolo, an Italian banking group, for $1.1bn. "The perfection of the acquisition of the going concern represents an important opportunity for the Group to enhance its competitive position in the more productive and dynamic areas of the country. The transaction will enable us to increase our customer base of more than 40% and to achieve a general re-balancing of the presence of the Group on the national territory towards economically strong areas which, as of today, are only partially covered," Alessandro Vandelli, BPER Banca CEO.