Will a wave of bank mergers follow in the wake of the Pekao BPH merger?

Erste Securities analyst Robert Sobieraj names KBC of Belgium, Dutch ING and U.S. Citibank, as the three entities most likely to succeed in taking over another Polish bank. At present KBC controls Kredyt Bank, ING owns ING BSK, while Citibank took over Bank Handlowy a few years ago. There are already rumors of KBC holding talks with BCP of Portugal, regarding the merger of BCP's Polish bank - Millennium - with Kredyt Bank. The two institutions command 4% and 5% of the Polish market respectively, a measly figure compared to around 20% commanded by each of the two banks which will lead the market - state owned PKO BP and the merged Pekao-BPH. The merger of Kredyt Bank and Millenium would not create significant synergy effects, as they are similar to each other, says Andrzej Powierża from the BDM PKO brokerage house. (Parkiet, p. 1) T.J.