Tender for Zachodni this week
"The ads with the tender invitation will appear in the Financial Times and Rzeczpospolita," said Henryka Bochniarz, president of Nicom Consulting, which is advising the ministry on the sale of the Wroclaw-based bank.
Banks interested in bidding for a majority stake will have to submit offers within the next two to three weeks, Bochniarz added. A short-list of bidders will then be prepared. Although the tender calls for the sale of a 10-80% stake, the ministry wants to sell 50-80%.
"Thus, the decision can be made by the end of March at the earliest," she added.
Bochniarz said that so far 20 financial institutions have expressed initial interest in Bank Zachodni. These include a mix of Polish and international financial institutions.
Among the Polish banks expressing interest are: Powszechny Bank Kredytowy (PBK), Bank Rozwoju Eksportu (BRE), Kredyt Bank PBI and BIG Bank Gdanski. Foreign institutions include GE Capital, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole.
In addition, press reports indicated late last week that Allied Irish Bank, which has a 61% stake in Poznan-based Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy (WBK), is also interested in Zachodni.
AIB has twice tried unsuccessfully within the past year to increase its presence on the market through acquisitions. Last year it unsuccessfully attempted to purchase a 40% stake in Krakow-based Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy (BPH), losing in the tender to Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank (BHV). It has also placed a bid to become a strategic investor in the largest banking group, Pekao.
Zachodni is a universal bank with an especially strong presence in Western Poland. At the end of 1997, it had own capital of zl. 582 million ($166.3 million) and total assets of zl. 6.4 billion ($1.8 billion). The bank forecast net profit to grow by 64% in 1998 to zl. 232 million ($66.2 million).
In November, Bochniarz said the government would look to get a price for Zachodni similar to that it received for BPH. This would mean about five times book value.
Whether the ministry can again receive such a lofty valuation has yet to be seen. But BPH's new investor, BVH, showed last week that it wasn't willing to pay such a high price to other market players.
BVH agreed last week to purchase a 9.95% stake in BPH from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), increasing its total holding in the bank to 46.85%.
But BVH paid zl. 420 a share to the EBRD, or about 4.3 times book value, compared to the zl. 480 it was willing to pay the ministry. BPH's shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) closed at zl. 200 Friday, down zl. 6.
In another bank sale, Belgian Kredietbank, which currently has a 9.3% stake in Kredyt Bank PBI, has applied to the Securities Commission (KPWiG) to increase its stake to 30%. If approved, this will take place through a new share issue worth up to zl. 163 million ($46.5 million).
Banks interested in bidding for a majority stake will have to submit offers within the next two to three weeks, Bochniarz added. A short-list of bidders will then be prepared. Although the tender calls for the sale of a 10-80% stake, the ministry wants to sell 50-80%.
"Thus, the decision can be made by the end of March at the earliest," she added.
Bochniarz said that so far 20 financial institutions have expressed initial interest in Bank Zachodni. These include a mix of Polish and international financial institutions.
Among the Polish banks expressing interest are: Powszechny Bank Kredytowy (PBK), Bank Rozwoju Eksportu (BRE), Kredyt Bank PBI and BIG Bank Gdanski. Foreign institutions include GE Capital, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole.
In addition, press reports indicated late last week that Allied Irish Bank, which has a 61% stake in Poznan-based Wielkopolski Bank Kredytowy (WBK), is also interested in Zachodni.
AIB has twice tried unsuccessfully within the past year to increase its presence on the market through acquisitions. Last year it unsuccessfully attempted to purchase a 40% stake in Krakow-based Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy (BPH), losing in the tender to Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank (BHV). It has also placed a bid to become a strategic investor in the largest banking group, Pekao.
Zachodni is a universal bank with an especially strong presence in Western Poland. At the end of 1997, it had own capital of zl. 582 million ($166.3 million) and total assets of zl. 6.4 billion ($1.8 billion). The bank forecast net profit to grow by 64% in 1998 to zl. 232 million ($66.2 million).
In November, Bochniarz said the government would look to get a price for Zachodni similar to that it received for BPH. This would mean about five times book value.
Whether the ministry can again receive such a lofty valuation has yet to be seen. But BPH's new investor, BVH, showed last week that it wasn't willing to pay such a high price to other market players.
BVH agreed last week to purchase a 9.95% stake in BPH from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), increasing its total holding in the bank to 46.85%.
But BVH paid zl. 420 a share to the EBRD, or about 4.3 times book value, compared to the zl. 480 it was willing to pay the ministry. BPH's shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) closed at zl. 200 Friday, down zl. 6.
In another bank sale, Belgian Kredietbank, which currently has a 9.3% stake in Kredyt Bank PBI, has applied to the Securities Commission (KPWiG) to increase its stake to 30%. If approved, this will take place through a new share issue worth up to zl. 163 million ($46.5 million).
