Commerzbank, the number two bank in Germany, is set to acquire Dresdner Bank for $14.4 billion from insurer Allianz. The deal will create new configurations in the financial landscape of Germany which is Europe’s largest banking market.

Dresdner is one of the oldest banks of Germany and under the deal, Commerzbank will initially acquire 60.2% stake in the former and buy the rest at the end of next year. Allianz however will be the largest shareholder in the combined bank with a stake of almost 30%.

The acquisition of Dresdner Bank will give Commerzbank a large client network, mainly comprising of upwardly mobile, urban customers. According to an estimate, the customer base of the combined banks will reach around 11 million and will have a total network of 1200 branches. This will make Commerzbank the biggest bank in Germany in terms of number of customers and will enable it to compete with Deutsche Bank which remains the national leader in terms of assets.

After merging, Commerzbank and Dresdner would together command assets worth $1.6 trillion and have an employee strength of 67,000. However Deutsche Bank leads by far with assets of $2.9 trillion while more than 80,000 employees work for the bank.