Possible BPH and PBK merger could create Central Europe's third largest bank

The imminent merger of HypoVereinsbank and Bank Austria is likely to alter the banking landscape in Poland if the local subsidiaries of the two, Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy (BPH) and Powszechny Bank Kredytowy (PBK) decide to link-up. An eventual BPH-PBK tie-up would create a force capable of challenging the largest banks PKO BP S.A. and Pekao S.A. which dominate the domestic retail banking business. Although the earliest BPH and PBK could merge is just under 2 years time, analysts are already proposing a 1 to 2.03 share exchange ratio for BPH and PBK respectively. The combined bank would have a value of zl. 7.5 billion and would be the third largest bank in Central Europe after Pekao and OTP Bankiem of Hungary. The new bank would have 850,000 accounts and have about a 10% share of the local brokerage market and a 5% share of the leasing business. (Prawo i Gospodaraka, page 9)