Aichi Financial Group President Yukinori Ito (left) and San ju San Financial Group President Gotaro Michihiro announce a plan to merge the two banks at a joint news conference in Nagoya on Wednesday. | JIJI

Two regional banks in central Japan are planning to integrate their operations, as a long-anticipated industry consolidation picks up pace.

The deal between Aichi Financial Group and San ju San Financial Group will create a regional banking group with total assets worth more than ¥11.6 trillion ($74 billion), according to data from the two lenders in a statement Wednesday. They said further details will be disclosed as soon as arrangements are made.

Aichi Financial’s shares closed 2.6% higher while San ju San jumped 6.8%, beating the broad Topix index’s 1.2% advance.

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