BGŻ and BNP Paribas announce merger plan

The boards of Bank Gospodarki Żywnościowej (BGŻ) and BNP Paribas Bank Polska have agreed on the lenders' merger plan, according to their joint statement. In the course of the merger, all assets in BNP Paribas Bank Polska will be transferred to BGŻ, in exchange for a new share issue. BGŻ will issue 28,099,554 shares, with a face value of PLN 1 each, and offer them to the shareholders of BNP Paribas Bank Polska. The merged bank will hold a 4 percent share in the Polish market, making it the country's seventh-largest lender, the statement also said. The banks' legal merger is scheduled to take place in the first half of 2015.