PZU will not buy bank BPH

Although insurer PZU was seen as the likely winner in the race to buy bank BPH, owned by General Electric (GE), Polish daily Puls Biznesu said that negotiations between both entities broke off. Price turned out to be the bone of contention. "At this moment, I can confirm that we are not conducting negotiations regarding the takeover of the lender," said Michał Witkowski, a spokesman for PZU. 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. The state-controlled insurer has already acquired a stake in Alior Bank.