Alior wants to buy BPH Bank

Poland's mid-tier lender Alior Bank, a unit by state-owned insurer PZU, is in talks to buy its rival Bank BPH from General Electric and hopes to complete a deal by around mid-2016, three banking sources told Reuters. "Alior plans the bank acquisition transaction during the second or third quarter. The plan assumes that Alior will conduct a rights issue to raise money both for the bank, and to strengthen its own capital position," a source familiar with the matter said. According to Reuters, GE's 87 percent stake in Bank BPH has a market value of PLN 2.2 billion. The bank's assets are worth roughly PLN 32 billion, or 2 percent of the sector's total. GE has said it is selling BPH as part of a strategic shift away from the financial sector but declined to comment on Monday. Alior also declined to comment.