BPH and PBK banks give details of share-swap merger

Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy (BPH) and Pomorski Bank Kredytowy (PBK) have announced a share-swap arrangement, taking them one step closer to a merger that will create the third largest bank in Poland in terms of assets and net profit. The name of the new bank, with its headquarters in Krakow, is still unknown. What has been revealed is that it will have more that 600 branches and at least 2.4 million customers, and its market share will be around 10%. Under the terms of the merger agreement, a share swap ratio has been set of two PBK shares for each BPH share. According to the presidents of the two banks, the merger could save them as much as euro 50 million combined in each of the next three years. The merger is a result of an alliance between two strategic investors, Bank Austria which controls PBK, and Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank, the German majority stakeholder in BPH. The new bank is planned for launch on the stock exchange at the beginning of January 2002. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 1-9) M. S.-C.