The biggest foreign investor in the Polish banking sector, Italy’s UniCredit, sold its 10-percent stake in Pekao bank for €750m (PLN 3.3bn). Shares sold out almost immediately at a prices that were 6 percent below market valuation. The move has raised speculation that the bank is considering exiting the Polish market, even though the investor in Poland’s second largest bank retained a 40-percent stake.
The name of Pekao’s new shareholder was not disclosed, but Polish media are speculating that the transaction could mark the first step toward re-nationalizing the country’s banking sector. PZU’s new CEO recently hinted he might be interested in Pekao as did Poland’s deputy prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.
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.
