PKO Bank, PZU Ready To Jointly Bid For Poland-Based Banks -Report

Two Polish financial firms part-owned by the government--PKO Bank Polski SA (PKO.WA) and insurer PZU SA (PZU.WA)--are ready to make joint bids for Polish units of foreign banks, daily Rzeczpospolita reports Wednesday, without citing sources.

Governor of the National Bank of Poland Marek Belka said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires this month that Polish authorities should prepare a plan supporting the takeover of foreign-owned banks operating in Poland, if they are put up for sale to reduce the excessive share of foreign capital in the country's banking system.

PKO Bank Polski and PZU could either engage international institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development or the International Finance Corporation, in the bids, or buy foreign-owned banks on their own, the daily says.

The first chance they will have is to try to buy Bank Millennium SA (MIL.WA) from Banco Comercial Portugues SA (BCP.LB), which set a deadline for bids for the end of this week, Rzeczpospolita says. Apart from PKO Bank Polski, BNP Paribas SA (BNP.FR) and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) are expected to place bids for Bank Millennium, the daily says.

Newspaper website: www.rp.pl

-Warsaw Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]