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EBRD further reduces stake in Poland's Bank Pekao S.A.
Sale reduces EBRD’s holding to 0.825%
The EBRD has sold 50 per cent of its remaining equity stake in Bank Pekao
S.A., a leading bank in Poland listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange through
Citigroup Global Markets Limited as bookrunner. The sale reduces the EBRD’s
holding to 0.825 per cent from 1.65 per cent. The exit price per share
represented a small discount to today’s closing price of PLN 213 on the Warsaw
stock exchange.
The EBRD acquired its stake in 1998 as part of an effort to provide
institutional strength to Bank Pekao S.A. and help promote its growth in the
country. In 1999, a consortium of UniCredito Italiano SpA and Allianz
Aktiengesellschaft acquired a majority stake in the bank.
Kurt Geiger, Business Group Director, Financial Institutions at the EBRD, said
this sale is a strong example of the Bank's mandate to support the transition
process across the Bank’s countries of operations. It highlights the EBRD's
ability to help strengthen financial institutions, as well as eight years of
successful cooperation between the EBRD and Bank Pekao S.A. The sale should
also benefit the local capital markets by increasing the free float of the
bank’s shares. Mr Geiger added that Bank Pekao S.A. has demonstrated its
capacity to attract a following amongst high quality local and international
investors.
The EBRD remains an investor in Bank Pekao S.A. and strongly supports its
further development.
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The EBRD, owned by 61 countries and two intergovernmental institutions,
aims to foster the transition from centrally planned to market economies from
central Europe to central Asia. Visit the EBRD’s website: www.ebrd.com
Not for release or distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the
United States, Canada, Japan or Australia.
The material set forth herein is for informational purposes only and is not
an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, in
any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
In particular, it is not an offer of securities for sale or a solicitation of
an offer to purchase securities in the United States. The offer and sale of
these shares have not been, and will not be, registered under the United
States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The securities may not be offered
or sold in the United States absent such registration other than pursuant to
an applicable exemption from registration. There will be no public offering of
the securities in the United States.
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