Kredyt Bank about to mobilize for a merger

Willy Duron, the president of Belgium's financial group KBC, which currently holds a 76.5% stake in Kredyt Bank (KB), yesterday announced that his company is interested in merging the domestic subsidiary with a local competitor. In an interview for German daily Handelsblatt, Duron disclosed that a merger is a better option than acquisition because values of banks in countries which have recently joined the EU have significantly risen. Following the court registration of a capital injection in KB of zł.604 million, KBC's stake will rise to 85.5%. Market analysts speculate that the most probable partner in the venture could be Millennium, BZ WBK, BRE, or ING BSK, which each have a market share of around 4-6%. Meanwhile, Portuguese BCP, the main investor in Millennium, also recently announced that it is looking for a partner interested in joint investments in Poland. (Parkiet, p. 1; Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 4) A.K.