A new twist to the sorry tale of Eureko’s entry into the Polish market has appeared which may give the company a no doubt long sought after escape route. It would appear that the German Westdeutsche Landesbank is seeking to buy he PZU stock that the company is holding following what may now be considered its failure to acquire the company despite a sales contract to the contrary.
If this is correct it would mean that West LB would organise the financing of the purchase of the thirty percent stake in PZU held by the Eureko — BIG BG consortium on behalf of the treasury. For political reasons state owned bank PKO BP would join the consortium. The two banks would pay PLN3bn which roughly corresponds to what Eureko originally paid for its stake allowing for interest and a modest profit.
It would also appear that the idea has been accepted by the treasury although both minister Wiesław Kaczmarek and Eureko have not commented on the issue. West LB also declined to comment on Thursday.
Of course the treasury does not have the cash to buy the PZU shares and therefore another investor is required. West LB has apparently got a valuation putting a price tag of over PLN3bn on PZU.