Credit Agricole set to acquire 75% stake in Lukas group

Credit Agricole (CA) will be the first full-service French bank to enter a Polish financial institution after it acquires a 75% stake in Wroclaw-based capital group Lukas in a deal worth more than $260 million. Although it is almost certain CA will be the strategic investor in Lukas, official word is expected in two weeks. The deal will give the French company control over Lukas Bank and credit intermediary company Lukas. CA' s presence in the group would also enable Lukas to expand its services, especially bancassurance, in which CA has expertise. However, the French bank will have to share power with Mariusz Lukasiewicz, one of the founders and shareholders of the Polish group, who holds 24.44% stake in Lukas and who, in an agreement signed with CA, has reserved the right to retain his stake. Lukasiewicz has also entered a legal dispute with American investment fund Enterprise Investors, demanding the right to a preferential purchase of an additional 1%, which would up his share in Lukas to 25%. According to the company's by-laws, Lukasiewicz has the right to buy Lukas shares before the French, making him the one to decide who will receive the controlling stake. As of last September, combined total investment by French financial institutions in Poland's banking sector amounted to zl.348.5 million. (Puls Biznesu, p.7) J.K.