Aerospace and defence company, Airbus Group has acquired German regional lender, Salzburg München Bank in order to provide additional financing options for itself.

After closing, Salzburg München Bank, will be renamed Airbus Group Bank and will gradually develop financing for Airbus’ businesses. The regional bank is wholly owned by Raiffeisenverband Salzburg, a small fully-licensed bank based in Munich serving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and private clients.

“Acquiring Salzburg München Bank provides us with a good platform to launch our company bank project,” says Airbus Group chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm in a recent release. He adds that in the coming years the whole Airbus Group can benefit through increased financing flexibility.

Airbus is the not the first company to establish a bank for its own financing needs. Siemens, BMW, Peugeot-Citroën and Volkswagen have all set up their own banks. These banks, in addition to facilitating financing, also enable companies to borrow cash from the European Central Bank at cheaper rates than they could in the corporate bond markets.

Airbus Group aims to close the deal as early as possible in 2014, subject to receiving all necessary regulatory approvals. The acquisition will not have any immediate effects on Salzburg München Bank’s existing clients or business