Pekao eyes Bank BPH

Since talks between GE and PZU regarding the sale of Bank BPH broke off, billionaire Leszek Czarnecki has been left alone at the negotiating table. Puls Biznesu reported that Czarnecki may face a new competitor, Pekao. Pekao, included in the UniCredit Group, is conducting due diligence of BPH. Initially, the lender was one of four bidders, but GE chose not to shortlisted it due to its unsatisfactory offer. GE announced that it wants to sell BPH in October 2014. In August this year, Reuters informed that only PZU and Getin Holding were left in the race. However, the situation changed when GE confirmed that was no longer negotiating with PZU. According to the media, the price turned out to be the bone of contention. Leszek Czarnecki, the owner at Getin, is planning to finance the purchase of the Bank BPH partially by offering GE Idea Bank's shares in exchange for BPH's shares. Market capitalization of  BPH amounts to $891 million, which makes it Poland's tenth largest lender by asset value.