Unicredit, one of Europe’s biggest banks, and the biggest investor in CEE region, presented its strategy till the year 2009. Poland is not included in the strategy. The reason are negotiations with GE Capital concerning the sale of mini-BPH, or the unit left after Unicredit absorbs part of Bank BPH.
“The process is going on, so we don’t comment on the price we want to get for mini-BPH, nor the talks themselves”, Aleksandro Profumo, Unicredit CEO said.
The Banking Supervision Commission (KNB) is going to allow to split Bank BPH and merge its bigger part with Pekao only after the contract to sell mini-BPH is signed. GE Capital of U.S. which is supposed to buy the latter has more and more demands, however.
“Although GE has known since November 2006 what was put up for sale, now it does not agree with the fact that not a single unit of corporate operations will be left in mini-BPH. It doesn’t like the idea that it would not get Bank BPH headquarters, either. It is considering how attractive 200 outlets it is going to buy are. GE wants to win time while Unicredit has no time”, a person close to the transaction said.
Before KNB makes its decision, Pekao won’t develop. Unicredit won’t be listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The re-branding process will be withheld. Pekao generates 38 percent of the income of all 14 banks owned by Unicredit in the CEE region.