BNP to indirectly take 50% stake in Bank Przemyslowy

Probably by the end of July French bank BNP-Paribas (BNP) will sign an agreement to takeover a 50% stake in Czech financial group Union Group, which owns 75% of shares of Bank Przemyslowy in Lodz. According to Bank Przemyslowy president Jerzy Fornalczyk, "It will mean Bank Przemyslowy must change its current strategy probably by developing retail banking and we will for sure get very ambitious plans." BNP is present in Poland through Dresdner Bank, in the which it owns a 50% stake. It is not probable that Bank Przemyslowy will merge with Dresdner Bank, since as an investor in Union Group, BNP will own only between a 51 and 66% stake. Fornalczyk also added that his bank will probably become an entity within BNP and will profit from this. Now Bank Przemyslowy has a 12% solvency ratio, but in the next year it may be capitalized and will also be able to use the knowledge of the French investor. (Rzeczpospolita, page B3) M.M.