Allied Irish Banks is one of four banking groups shortlisted to buy the 41 per cent stake in the Polish bank, Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy, being sold off by the Polish government. BPH, which is quoted on the Warsaw stock market, currently has a market capitalisation of 2.7 billion zlotys (£556 million) and the stake being sold off by the government is currently valued at more than £230 million.
AIB has declined to comment on its bid for BPH, which first surfaced yesterday in the Polish newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza. The report suggested that four final bidders had been selected by the Polish government and that the two highest bids had come from AIB and General Electric's Polish banking subsidiary GE Polska.
The Polish state treasury, which holds the state stake in BPH, has also refused to comment on the AIB interest but has previously indicated that it wants to sell the state stake by mid-September. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which also has a 15 per cent stake in BPH, has indicated that it might sell its stake in the bank to the successful bidder. At the current price in the market of 260 zlotys, the EBRD stake is worth £84 million. The other shareholders in BPH are the Dutch banking group ING, with just over 15 per cent and private investors who hold 25.7 per cent.
BPH is substantially larger than WBK, the Poznan-based bank in which AIB has accumulated a 60 per cent stake at a cost of £96 million. Based in Krakow in southern Poland, BPH has almost 60 branches and nearly 6,000 employees. It is understood that BPH has generated profits in recent years in excess 200 million zlotys (£40 million).
If AIB is successful in its bid for at least a 40 per cent stake in BPH - and 55 per cent if the EBRD stake is also purchased - it will represent a massive expansion of its operations in Poland. AIB is understood to be generally happy with the performance of its WBK operation in western Poland and the combination of WBK and BPH would make AIB a very significant player in the Polish banking market, say analysts.
