Bank BPH/Pekao: SG resigned bidding for Bank BPH-200

According to Polish daily Gazeta Prawna, Societe Generale has resigned from the bidding process for Bank BPH-200 assets. The daily states that GE, Santander Group and Raiffeisen International are among the remaining interested institutions.
Our view: We are not surprised that SG has quit the bidding process, as it has already established a presence on the Polish market (SG acquired the successful retail Eurobank in 2005). In addition to the 200 branches, UniCredito is spinning off sufficient infrastructure for a universal bank to provide services in all banking segments (IT needed to support retail activity and corporate system transactions, ATMs, call centre), as well as a mutual fund company and head office (back office functions). In our opinion, such assets may prove particularly attractive to ambitious players that currently have no presence in Poland. The news may have mildly negative trading impact on the stock as the list of institutions that commonly bids for CEE assets is shrinking.