BRE BH control change means mortgages get the chop

BRE Bank has bought 50% of Rheinhyp-BRE Bank Hipoteczny's (BRE BH) stock for zł.87.5 million. Up to now, BRE Bank was the owner of 50% of BRE BH's shares, with the rest owned by Germany's Eurohypo, which in turn is partly owned by Commerzbank, BRE's main shareholder. The Polish bank bought 675,000 Rheinhyp-BRE's shares, for which it paid with cash raised by a new share issue. Due to the ownership change, BRE BH has had to alter its strategy and target market, withdrawing from offering mortgages to individual clients. BRE-owned Multibank will now serve that particular sector while BRE BH concentrates on financing the commercial real estates sector. BRE Bank ended the first five months of this year with an income of zł.5.2 million. (Parkiet, p. 3) D.W.