State-controlled PKO, Poland's No. 2 bank behind the local unit of Italy's UniCredit SpA, said it had made an offer for 99.92% of AIG Bank Polska SA and 100% of AIG Credit SA and is in non-exclusive talks with the New York seller. News outlets have predicted a price of up to 1.5 billion Zloty ($493.1 million) for the assets.
"In the case of concluding the agreement, the acquisition would take place after legal requirements under Polish laws have been satisfied," PKO said. "The acquisition of the companies' shares would be financed with the bank's own funds."
PKO is led by Jerzy Pruski. It had assets of Zl109 billion at the end of its third quarter and Zl83.5 billion of customers' deposits. It went public in 2004 but remains 51%-owned by the Polish state. - Laura Board
