Italian finance firm Unicredit has entered into exclusive talks with GE Money EMEA to transfer its stake in Polish Bank BPH to the General Electric subsidiary.
The Italian bank first acquired a 71% stake in the Polish finance group in 2005, following its acquisition of Germany’s HypoVereinsbank, reported the Financial Times.
Under the terms of the sale agreement, Unicredit will sell 200 of the 485 BPH branches to GE Money, while the remaining branches will be spun off and merged with Pekao, another Polish banking group owned by Unicredit, according to the Financial Times.
However, the potential merger has caused concerns that it would reduce banking competition in the Polish market. The sale of the stake to GE Money has also further fueled the growing concern of the high level of foreign-owned Polish banks, reported the Financial Times.
Unicredit has stated that it expects the sale to close by the end of 2007.