Third largest bank could be formed from HVB takeover

The second-largest German-bank HypoVereinsbank (HVB) wants to take over Bank Austria/Creditanstalt (BA/CA). Both banks currently operate in Poland. BA/CA owns a 53% stake in Powszechny Bank Kredytowy (PBK) through its subsidiary Bank Austria/Creditanstalt International. At the moment the Polish branch of BA/CA is in talks about a possible merger with PBK, which would increase its stake in PBK to 57%. HVB has an 86.1% stake in Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy (BPH). Analysts believe the merger of HVB and BA/CA will lead to the merger of PBK with BPH. "The merger of these two banks will make the position of PBK and BPH stronger in the Polish market, especially when it comes to cost cutting. They are retail banks and at present it is important for banks to be active in retail banking," said DI BRE analyst Hanna Kedziora. The PBK and BPH merger would create the third biggest bank in Poland with respect to the balance-sheet total and the biggest in terms of capital (zl. 4.2 billion). The new institution would be one of the biggest on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) with joint capitlization of zl. 5.6 billion. (Parkiet, July 22-24, page 1, 2) M.M.