Deutsche gets OK to up BIG stake
The Banking Supervision Commission's (KNB) decision last week to grant Deutsche Bank permission to up its stake in BIG Bank Gdanski to 25% marked the close of a six-month battle for BIG BG.
Despite gaining permission to hold 25%, Deutsche will likely only increase its stake to 15%, the Business Journal has learned. Deutsche has publicly said it currently holds 9.9% of the bank, but it is believed to have actually acquired a larger stake. Sources said last week that it is unlikely Deutsche's stake will exceed 15%, however, because BIG BG's charter does not allow any single investor to hold more than 15% of the voting rights.
The KNB's decision means that Deutsche will join Banco Comercial Portugues and European insurer Eureko as BIG BG's major shareholders, and the three already spent last week discussing future cooperation. As of the end of August, Banco Comercial Portugues held 14.67% of BIG BG, while Eureko had 9.08%. More than 30% of the bank is traded publicly.
News that Deutsche had been busily buying up BIG BG shares caused many in the industry to speculate that it was positioning itself for a hostile takeover of the bank. Speculation of a hostile takeover was further fueled when some of BIG BG's major shareholders were pushing for a package of 24% of the bank's shares to be taken out of management's control.
Any takeover attempt, however, was frustrated this fall when BIG BG's management sold a portion the package of shares to Banco Comercial Portugues and Eureko, effectively dispersing its ownership.
Deutsche's newfound willingness to work with BIG BG's existing shareholders and management is therefore viewed as a change of tune.
"That's the only way to save the face, to try to cooperate with the management board, at least for the time being," said Artur Szeski, a banking analyst with CDM Pekao Securities.
While Deutsche may up its stake to 15%, it is unclear whether the German bank will have representatives on BIG BG's supervisory board. Sources close to the bank also said that it is unlikely that Deutsche will call an extraordinary shareholders meeting, but rather will wait for the normally scheduled meeting in December this year.
