Poland stands back on stake sale

THE Polish government has seemingly drawn a line under its failed attempt to persuade AIB to sell its stake in Bank Zachodni to a domestic player.

AIB last week got its overseas asset disposal/ group refinancing round off to a strong start by agreeing to sell its 70% stake in Bank Zachodni (and its 50% stake in the bank’s asset management division), to Spain’s Santander group, for a combined €3.1bn. Poland’s Government had wanted the asset to switch to domestic ownership, in a bid to lessen international control of the country's banking sector.

Over the last couple of days, reports in the Polish media had suggested that the losing bidders — France’s BNP Paribas and, particularly, Poland’s largest lender, PKO Bank Polski, could make official complaints over suggestions that Santander had been granted more information leading up to the acquisition of the asset and had been granted an unfair advantage in the bidding process.