MILAN, July 14 (Reuters) - U.S. asset manager Fortress will integrate two Italian debt collectors it owns to create the country's biggest independent bad loan manager.
Under the deal, doBank, a debt collector Fortress and Eurocastle Investment purchased from Italian bank UniCredit last year, will acquire Italfondiario, already controlled by the U.S. asset manager, doBank said in a statement.
The two companies together will manage around 100 billion euros ($111 billion) of bad debts, half of the whole amount weighing on Italian banks' balance sheets.
DoBank and Italfondiario will maintain their own loan management businesses, while they will integrate non-core activities to generate synergies, doBank said.
The Bank of Italy will have to give its green light to the transaction, it said. ($1 = 0.9004 euros) (Reporting by Francesca Landini; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)