UniCredit Launches Sale of a Stake in Polish Bank Pekao
July 12 2016 - 1:50PM
Dow Jones News
MILAN—Italian lender UniCredit SpA said late Tuesday it launched
the sale of a stake of up to 10% in Polish subsidiary Bank Pekao
SA, the second consecutive transaction aimed at shoring up its
capital position since a new chief executive has taken the helm of
the bank.
The bank said the sale will take place via an accelerated
bookbuilding addressed only to certain institutional investors and
may be closed at any time.
"The placement will enable UniCredit to further strengthen its
capital position while retaining a controlling shareholding in the
company," the bank said.
UniCredit currently owns 50.1% of Pekao, while the rest is
listed on the Warsaw stock exchange.
Based on Tuesday closing market prices, a 10% stake in Pekao is
worth about 800 million euros, or about $887 million. A person
familiar with the matter said the sale is set to generate around 10
basis points of additional capital for UniCredit.
The transaction follows the sale of a 10% stake in online bank
FinecoBank SpA announced on Monday and concluded earlier Tuesday,
which the bank said would result in about 7 basis points of
additional capital.
UniCredit appointed Jean-Pierre Mustier, who had been in the
recent past the bank's investment banking chief, as its new chief
executive at the end of June, more than a month after former CEO
Federico Ghizzoni agreed to step down.
Uncertainty surrounding the bank's strategy and, more recently,
about the name of the new CEO heavily penalized UniCredit's stock,
which lost nearly 60% since the beginning of the year. On Tuesday,
shares soared 13% on the back of news about the FinecoBank
deal.
UniCredit said Monday it also launched an in-depth review of the
bank's strategy under Mr. Mustier to reinforce and optimize its
capital position. The review will encompass all major areas of the
bank and will focus on capital optimization, cost reduction, cross
selling and improved risk discipline, the bank said.
Write to Giovanni Legorano at giovanni.legorano@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 12, 2016 13:35 ET (17:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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