Banca Carime
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Predecessor | Carical, Caripuglia, Carisal |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Headquarters | Cosenza , Italy |
Area served | Southern Italy |
| Products | Banking |
| Parent | UBI Banca |
Banca Carime S.p.A. was an Italian financial institution headquartered in Cosenza, Calabria, operating as a subsidiary of UBI Banca. By the end of 2015, the bank managed a network of 216 branches exclusively located in Southern Italy, with 84 branches in Calabria, 93 in Apulia, 20 in Campania, and 19 in Basilicata.
Back in 1999, the bank maintained 341 branches spread across Calabria, Basilicata, Apulia, Campania, and a single location in Molise.
History
The establishment of Banca Carime resulted from the consolidation of three regional savings banks: Calabria–Basilicata (Carical, founded in 1861), Apulia (Caripuglia, founded in 1949), and Salerno (Carisal, founded in 1956), all previously under the control of Cariplo. By 1996, Cariplo held controlling interests in these entities both directly and through Fincarime. In 1997, Fincarime was rebranded as Banca Carime S.p.A., with Cariplo possessing nearly full ownership (approximately 99%) and complete control over the three savings banks. The formal merger into Banca Carime was finalized on 1 January 1998.
Following Cariplo’s fusion with Banco Ambrosiano Veneto to create Banca Intesa in January 1998, the subsidiary savings banks were integrated into Banca Carime during the period from 1998 to 1999.
In January 2001, Banca Carime transferred ownership of 19 branches to Banca Nuova, part of the Banca Popolare di Vicenza group.
On 29 June 2001, Banca Intesa divested a majority stake (75%) in Banca Carime to Banca Popolare Commercio e Industria for €1.191 billion while retaining a minority shareholding of 24.92%. The following year, Intesa sold its remaining shares to Deutsche Bank, which concurrently issued warrants allowing BPCI to acquire Banca Carime at the same price until 2006. Subsequently, on 1 July 2003, Banca Carime became incorporated into Banche Popolari Unite (BPU), which exercised these warrants in 2005 to achieve full ownership consolidation.
As a result of another merger on 1 April 2007, Banca Carime became part of UBI Banca. That same year, effective from May 1, it sold 15 branches to Banca Popolare Pugliese.