Springleaf, the second largest provider of personal installment loans in the US, is to buy its biggest competitor OneMain.

Sprinleaf has been given permission to buy OneMain from parent company Citigroup, provided it sells 127 of its own branches.

The new company would be left with more than 1,800 branches nationwide.

Both comapnies provide personal loans of under $6,000, which have a set number of scheduled payments lasting between a few months and a few years.

Springleaf announced its plan to buy OneMain for $4.25 billion in March.

The deal hit a snag when US authorities claimed the tie-up could make it harder for people with poor personal financial ratings living in 11 states to access lines of credit.

The agreement reached on November 13 with the Department of Justice and state regulators ends an anti-trust lawsuit.

Springleaf shares rose 11.95% on the news.