Two retail networks became one bank, with no branch closure anyone regrets.
Lumen Bank agreed to buy Vestra, a regional rival with 120 branches and 640,000 customers. We worked with both leadership teams from the first look at the numbers to the day the two banks ran on one system.
9 mo
To full integration
The situation
The board asked: How do two branch networks become one?
In 38 towns, a Lumen branch and a Vestra branch stood on the same street and served many of the same families. The deal only paid for itself if those branches were combined and the customers stayed.
Bank integrations often drag on for years, held up by old systems and by arguments over which branch closes. The board gave itself twelve months, and asked for a plan before the price was agreed.
What we found
The deal case counted €55m of savings, but €17m of it relied on customers who would leave the day their branch moved.
We rebuilt the case from real customer data before signing, so the price reflected what the merger could actually deliver: €38m.
What we did
Months 1 to 2
We tested the value before signing
We checked every line of the savings case against two years of customer and branch data. The biggest gap sat in the 38 shared towns, and the price was renegotiated around it.
Months 3 to 5
We planned day one in detail
Every customer, branch team and system had a plan for the morning after closing. Cards, apps and account numbers kept working, so nothing changed for customers in the first week.
Months 6 to 9
We stayed until it ran as one
Sara Lind, who led the diligence, chaired the weekly integration meeting until the last branch moved onto the shared system, town by town, with customers told first.
What changed
9 mo
To full integration
One bank, one brand and one core system nine months after closing, three months ahead of plan.
120
Branches combined
Overlapping branches in 38 towns were merged one at a time, and every customer heard by letter and phone first.
98%
Customers retained
Almost every Vestra customer stayed through the change, including in the towns that lost a branch.
€42m
Savings delivered
Ahead of the €38m case, and tracked in the accounts, not only in the model.
Who made it work
“Two retail networks, one customer base and not a single branch closure we regret. The partner who pitched sat in every steering meeting.”
Client
Marcus Lee
Chief Operating Officer, Lumen Bank
Led this work
Sara Lind
Partner, transactions
Let’s find the right question first.
Thirty minutes with a partner. No pitch deck, no obligation.