MILAN, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Italian bank UniCredit on Monday said it was strengthening its presence in Romania by merging its local subsidiary with that of Alpha Bank .

The Greek lender will retain a 9.9% stake in the entity resulting from the merger of UniCredit Romania with Alpha Bank Romania, which will have a 12% market share by total assets.

As part of the accord between UniCredit and Alpha's parent company Alpha Services and Holdings they also signed a commercial partnership in insurance and asset management in Greece, the two companies said. (Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Cristina Carlevaro)