Almunia said the nationalised banks would have to close up to half their branches during the five-year overhaul process. The biggest of the banks, Bankia, said it would lay off over a quarter of its workforce amounting to over 6,000 staff, reduce its branch network by around 39 percent and aim to return to profitability by 2013. Bankia, formed from the merger of seven savings banks in 2010, said holders of hybrid debt would contribute up to 4.8 billion euros to the recapitalisation, through losses incurred by swapping their holdings for shares.