UniCredito Carves Itself A Pole Position

UniCredito Carves Itself A Pole Position
Vidya Ram, 10.04.07, 7:00 PM ET

LONDON - Italy's UniCredito has overcome the final regulatory hurdles that will allow it to create the largest bank in central Europe. The go-ahead from Poland, after months of protracted discussions and negotiations, will position UniCredito to capitalize on the rapid growth expected in the Eastern European banking sector.

Poland's regulatory authority gave approval to the merger of UniCredito's BPH bank with Bank Pekao, it confirmed on Wednesday. The merged bank will have assets of 102 billion zlotys ($38.2 billion) and overtakes state-run PKO Bank Polski as the country's largest lender.
The announcement marks the end of a long and drawn out process, with the regulator dragging its heels even after the government gave the merger its grudging approval.

UniCredito (other-otc: UNCFF - news - people ) was down 1 euro cent (1 cent), or 0.2%, at 6.28 euros ($8.86) on Thursday in Milan.

In August, UniCredito agreed to sell 200 branches of BPH, the brand name and part of its equity stake to General Electric Money, a financial arm of General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people ) for 625.5 million euros ($882.4 million). GE beat other financial institutions, including PKO, to acquire the company. UniCredito has insisted that it got itself a good deal through the sale, pointing out that last year the 200 branches being sold had a net profit of 7 million euros, compared with the 324 million euro profits at the 285 branches it has held on to. The merged BPH will have over 1,000 branches across the country.

Bank Pekao and BPH, which are currently Poland's second- and third-largest banks respectively, have recently posted strong quarterly results, buoyed by the massive growth that has been taking place in the Eastern European financial sector.

Increasing prosperity within Poland's population has helped drive up domestic consumption, and the demand for financial services, including mortgages. Last year lending by Polish banks rose by 5.5%.

The news is a welcome development for UniCredito, which has just undergone a major transformation of its own. On Oct. 1 it completed its takeover of fellow Italian Capitalia, catapulting it to the top of the Italian banking sector. (See: " Italy Creates Europe's Second Biggest Bank")
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Though some analysts were skeptical about the acquisition and the potential for synergies, UniCredito's strong financial performance in recent quarters and its negligible exposure to the U.S. subprime market has kept analysts upbeat about its future. The bank's policy of looking to Eastern and Central Europe for growth has also been welcomed. In addition to Poland, UniCredito's portfolio includes assets in Ukraine, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.