Italian Bank Drops Irving Bid

Banca Commerciale Italiana today withdrew its friendly takeover offer for Irving Bank Corp. of New York, but Irving said it will still resist a competing but unwanted offer from Bank of New York Co.

Irving said in response that it will seek alternative buyers and pointedly excluded Bank of New York. Irving had accepted a bid from the Italian bank group in order to avoid the clutches of the Bank of New York, which has been trying to take over Irving for 11 months. BCI said it was withdrawing its bid because its state-owned parent, Istituto per las Ricostruzione Industriale, IRI, would not comply with a Federal Reserve requirement that it file a separate application.