Santander, BNP Paribas, Unicredit Eye Poland's BGZ - Report

WARSAW--Three European banks--Spain's Banco Santander (SAN.MC), France's BNP Paribas (BNP.FR) and Italy's Unicredit (UCG.MI)--are interested in strengthening their presence in Poland through the acquisition of Bank Gospodarki Zywnosciowej (BGZ.WA), daily Puls Biznesu reports Friday, citing unnamed sources close to the transaction.

The Netherlands' Rabobank recently said it was weighing "strategic options" for its small Polish unit BGZ, of which it controls nearly 90%, and Italy's Unicredit admitted Thursday it had filed a preliminary bid for it.

However, according to Puls Biznesu, France's BNP Paribas has offered the best price and is closest to success, with a final decision most likely due around end-October.

BNP Paribas and Rabobank declined to comment on the matter, the newspaper reported.

Over the last two years, Poland's banking sector has seen a number of mergers as slower economic growth, increased competition, market fragmentation and regulatory pressures have prompted foreign owners to sell their local units.

Earlier this year, Poland's PKO BP acquired Scandinavian Nordea's local unit, while Santander's arm BZ WBK bought Belgium's KBC unit in 2012.

Newspaper website: www.pb.pl

Write to the Warsaw bureau at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires