Intesa drops out of race to buy Poland’s Bank Zachodni from AIB
Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, Italy’s second-biggest lender, has pulled out of the bidding process to buy Poland’s Bank Zachodni WBK SA from Allied Irish Banks.
Intesa, which last month confirmed it was among companies conducting due diligence on Zachodni, withdrew from bidding due to the high price and the lack of synergies on the Polish market.
The remaining bidders, PKO Bank Polski SA, BNP Paribas SA, and Banco Santander SA, already have operations in Poland and would be able to reduce costs if they bought Zachodni.
AIB is selling its 70pc stake in Poland’s third- biggest bank by market value to help meet capital requirements set by Irish banking regulators. The stake was valued at 9.31bn zloty (€2.3bn) at the close of Warsaw trading today.
Ronan Sheridan, a spokesman for AIB, and an Intesa spokesman who asked not to be identified in accordance with bank policy, both declined to comment.
- Marta Waldoch in Warsaw and Dara Doyle in Dublin
© Bloomberg
