Spanish and German banks ready to battle it out for GBG

Kopex shareholders agreed on Saturday to sell their entire 10% stake in Gornoslaski Bank Gospodarczy (GBG). This decision was influenced by the actions of Bank BPH PBK, which is a strategic investor in Kopex, and plans to sell its stake of 69% in GBG. One of the companies interested in obtaining the shares is Raiffeisen Bank Polska (RBP). "We are interested in new acquisitions. We will evaluate every bank which is for sale, however, the price must be appropriate," said RBP deputy director, Jaroslaw Dabrowski. Another institution interested in the bid is Santander Central Hispano. GBG serves over 300,000 individual customers and around 10,000 small and medium sized enterprises. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B5; Puls Biznesu, p. 6) A.K.