Polish financial regulator gives green light for Erste’s takeover of Santander

WARSAW, Dec 17 (Reuters) – The Polish financial regulator (KNF) has given a green light to Erste Group Bank AG’s purchase of a controlling stake in Santander Bank Polska, it said in a statement on Wednesday.    

Spain’s Santander, the bank’s parent company, agreed to sell a 49% stake in its Polish unit to Erste Group for 6.8 billion euros ($7.99 billion), in one of the biggest cross-border deals in Europe in recent years.        

“KNF took into account the financial strength of the investor, its previous experience in investing in the financial sector and the investor’s commitments,” the regulator said in a statement. 

Santander Bank Polska is the country’s third-largest bank by assets and also one of the most profitable in Poland, where interest rates have been higher than in the euro zone.

In the third quarter, the Polish bank reported better-than-expected net profit, helped by growth in net interest income and net fee and commission income. 

Net profit came in at 1.89 billion zlotys ($526.40 million), while analysts expected 1.83 billion zlotys.

($1 = 0.8514 euros)

($1 = 3.5904 zlotys)

(Reporting by Anna Koper; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)