OICC Press Agricultural Marketing and Commercialization 2676-7570 10 1 2026 06 30 A Model for Bank Mergers and Acquisitions in the National Banking Sector 10.57647/amc.2026.100101 EN Alireza Razavi Nouri Department of Financial Management, SR.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0158-0397 Zahra Houshmand Neghabi Department of Management and Accounting, Isl.C., Islamic Azad University, Islamshahr, Iran Gholamreza Askarzadeh Department of Financial Management, Ya.C., Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran Mahmood Hematfar Department of Accounting, Bo.C., Islamic Azad University, Borujerd, Iran Artin Beytari Department of Accounting, ShQ.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran Journal Article 2026 06 30 This study aimed to set up an extensive framework of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the banking industry in the country. Applied nature, in terms of its purpose, and qualitative nature, in terms of the research draws on in-depth insights from twelve experts selected through snowball sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. Participants consisted of university scholars with expertise in financial management and financial engineering, senior executives, and department heads in the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Data analysis was conducted through open, axial, and selective coding procedures using the support of MAXQDA software. A careful examination of the interviews resulted in pulling out 57 different concepts, grouped into 14 main ones. These categories were then mapped onto the six dimensions of a paradigmatic model (i.e., causal conditions, central phenomenon, contextual factors, intervening conditions, strategies, and consequences), culminating in the final conceptual model of the study. The results demonstrate that the main influencing factors of M&A activity in the banking industry are financial - structural, managerial - operational, regulatory and policymaking, as well as external environmental factors. Properly executed, mergers and acquisitions can be highly beneficial: reinforced capital bases and financial stability, operating cost economies, efficiency and productivity gains, reduction of credit and operational risk, better competitive positioning, and public confidence in the banking system. At the same time, the process can entail major difficulties such as the dissolution or administrative takeover of loss-making institutions, the need to build and upgrade technological infrastructure to facilitate real-time central bank supervision, the improvement of the quantitative and qualitative capacity of supervisory personnel, and the reassessment of the quality of assets across banks.