Skarbiec takeover creates independent asset manager

Polish Enterprise Fund V, owned by Enterprise Investors (EI), has announced its acquisition of a 100-percent stake in Skarbiec Asset Management Holding (SAMH) for zł.155 million from BRE Bank.

With the transaction, SAMH's new investor will take control of the Skarbiec Investment Fund TFI as well as BRE Transfer Agent. Skarbiec Investment Management was not part of the deal.

According to Dariusz Prończuk, a partner at EI, the newly formed Polish Enterprise Fund V Grupa Skarbiec will become the first major company managing assets to remain independent of any large banking group in Poland.

"This transaction is an example that the Polish market is becoming more mature within entities' ownership structure as well as in the development of new products and possible distribution channels," said Prończuk.

Results at SAMH have been improving for over a year, and the Skarbiec TFI currently has a four-percent share of the market. The company's gross profits for the first half of 2006 amounted to zł.12.6 million.

"We possess knowledge of and experience with innovative and tailor-made products," said Bogusław Grabowski, president of the SAMH management board. "Our BRE Transfer Agent, which will change its name soon, has a particular chance for rapid development as the outsourcing market is emerging."

According to statements from BRE Bank, selling the SAMH shares was an outcome of the bank's strategy to cooperate with investment funds as the bank wants to ensure its customers have access to diverse products that are available on the market, even if they are not provided by the BRE Group.

The transaction is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2007, since permission is needed from both the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) and the Financial Supervisory Commission.