PZU: no integration after potential purchase of lender

State-controlled insurer PZU is not ruling out its capital involvement in Polish banking, but it may happen on a strategic level and not an operational one. There will not be any joint branches established, Przemysław Dąbrowski, PZU's CFO informed on Tuesday. PZU is able to commit PLN 3-5 billion for such a project. "Even if we make an acquisition of a lender, there are no plans of merging PZU branches with a lender's branches," Dąbrowski said. In late April, Andrzej Klesyk, the CEO of PZU, said that in case the insurer was to get involved in Polish banking, it would be a capital investment in one cheap lender or in two financial institutions to be integrated with PZU. Puls Biznesu daily claims that the insurer is bidding for the stake in Alior Bank in order to merge it with Raiffeisen Bank Polska (on which it also has set its eyes), and then with Bank BPH as well, so that a PLN 115 billion worth institution would be born.