The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has acquired a 2.6 per cent-stake in Bank Millennium S.A., the sixth-largest commercial bank in Poland.
The purchase was made through an Accelerated Book Building process in 15.4 per cent of the share capital of the bank was placed on the market and offered to eligible institutional investors.
With the successful placement the stake of Banco Comercial Portugues (BCP) in Bank Millennium S.A. is being reduced from 65.5 per cent to 50.1 per cent. The EBRD invested PLN 213million (€52 million equivalent) into the acquisition of 2.6 per cent of the Polish bank’s capital and voting rights. The EBRD will also have the right to nominate an independent representative on the supervisory board of Bank Millennium S.A.
Lucyna Stańczak-Wuczyńska, EBRD Director in the Financial Institutions Department, said: “We have been a partner of Bank Millennium S.A. for many years, especially in supporting the real economy through loan programmes for small business. Building on this strong relationship we are now taking a further step to deepen our cooperation. By becoming a shareholder in Bank Millennium S.A., the EBRD – together with other institutional investors – is widening and stabilising the shareholder basis of this important bank. Strengthened corporate governance will also contribute to improved services for the Polish economy.”
Luís Pereira Coutinho, member of BCP´s Executive Committee and Bank Millennium´s Supervisory Board, added: “We are delighted to welcome the EBRD as a co-investor in Bank Millennium, given its institutional credibility and the potential to develop even further what has been a fruitful cooperation with our Polish subsidiary for some time”.
Bank Millennium S.A. is the sixth-largest commercial bank in Poland by total assets with a 5.2 per cent-market share. It is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and majority owned by BCP, the second largest bank in Portugal. Bank Millennium S.A. mainly focuses on small corporate clients and mass market and affluent retail customers.
Since the beginning of its operations in Poland in 1991, the EBRD has invested €7.27 billion in almost 350 projects in the country. In addition to its wide product range for banks and companies, in recent years the Bank has also built a growing portfolio of investments (both equity and debt) in the Polish financial sector, for which demand remains high.