The Italian group UniCredit is considering exiting Poland, according to Bloomberg, which reports the company might sell off its remaining stake in Pekao bank. The biggest foreign investor in the Polish banking sector recently sold its 10-percent stake in Pekao bank for €750m (PLN 3.3bn), raising speculations that it might be considering offloading the remaining 40-percent stake in its Polish business. UniCredit refused to comment. Pekao is said to be worth €5bn.
The name of Pekao’s new shareholder, who took over 10-percent stake in the company a couple of weeks ago, was not disclosed, but Polish media suspects the transaction could mark the first step in re-nationalizing the country’s banking sector. Bloomberg, on the other hand, claims buyers were mainly foreign investors.
Commenting on the transaction, the daily Gazeta Wyborcza writes that while it may hurt the business, UniCredit could eventually be forced to sell off Pekao. Poland is UniCredit’s fourth biggest market, following Italy, Germany and Austria.
