Interbanca is an Italian merchant bank

Merchant bank

A merchant bank is a financial institution which provides capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advisory on corporate matters to the firms they lend to....

 that specializes in lending and financing transactions for medium-sized firms. Its headquarters are in Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 and it has 10 branches in major cities throughout Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. The bank was purchased from Grupo Santander

Grupo Santander

The Santander Group is a banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A., the largest bank in the Eurozone and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. According to Forbes Magazine Global 2000, it is the 13th largest public company in the world...

 in March 2008 by GE

General Electric

General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

 Commercial Finance.

A consortium of banks comprising Banco Ambrosiano

Banco Ambrosiano

Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due...

, Banca d'America e d'Italia, and Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura, founded Interbanca in 1961. By in 1997 it had come under the control of Banca Antonveneta, which in 1999 acquired Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura. In June 1999, its parent listed Interbanca on the stock exchange, but then in February 2003 wholly acquired it.

In 2006, ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis...

 acquired Antonveneta, only to be itself acquired by a consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland

Royal Bank of Scotland

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...

, Fortis

Fortis (finance)

Fortis N.V./S.A. was a company active in insurance, banking and investment management. In 2007 it was the 20th largest business in the world by revenue but after encountering severe problems in the financial crisis of 2008, most of the company was sold in parts, with only insurance activities...

, and Banco Santander. Banco Santander took control of Antonveneta in October 2007 and sold it on to Monte dei Paschi di Siena

Monte dei Paschi di Siena

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. is the oldest surviving bank in the world. Founded in 1472 by the Magistrate of the city state of Siena, Italy, as a mount of piety, it has been operating ever since. Today it consists of approximately 3,000 branches, 33,000 employees and 4.5 million...

in November at a 36% premium over the valuation for the acquisition. Although Banco Santander had sold Antonveneta, it retained Interbanka for the time being.

In March 2008, Banco Santander sold Interbanca to GE Commercial Finance, receiving in return GE Money businesses in Germany, Finland and Austria, and GE's Card and Auto Financing Businesses in the UK.