Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) will expand its presence in Poland by buying a majority stake in Polbank for €490 million, The Wall Street Journal reports. RBI will purchase a 70% in the Polish retail and SME lender from Greece’s EFG Eurobank Ergasias.
The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year or in the first quarter of 2012. Raiffeisen will be able to fund the transaction without raising fresh capital through a rights issue. Polbank, which has 350 branches scattered across Poland, made a net loss of €26 million in the first nine months of 2010.
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