Capitalia, the Italian bank formed last year by the merger of Banca di Roma and Bipop Carire, is set to acquire smaller rival Cofiri for €145m ($171m).

Cofiri was set up in 1979 as the financial arm of IRI Group, the Italian state-owned financing company, and now offers services including mergers and acquisitions advice, leasing and lending. Matteo Arpe, a former Mediobanca and Lehman Brothers banker, is chief executive of Capitalia.