Czech companies bid $1.2 billion for Orlen's Unipetrol

Czech energy holding EPH and investment group PPF have submitted a joint bid of about $1.2 billion for downstream oil company Unipetrol (63 percent of which is owned by PKN Orlen), Reuters reported, quoting Czech newspaper Hospodarske Noviny. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper reported that PKN Orlen was considering the offer until the end of summer and that it was hiring an investment bank. Hospodarske Noviny also said a final decision was unlikely before Polish parliamentary elections in October. The companies declined to comment. Unipetrol's Chief Executive Marek Switajewski told Hospodarske Noviny he did not know about any offer.