Founded in Paris in 1920, Gide is a leading international law firm with 12 offices spread throughout the world.
Gide is physically present in six regions of the world, with 11 offices, enabling it to act on cases globally.
21 June 2017
Gide has advised Polski Fundusz Rozwoju S.A. (PFR) on all legal aspects of the historic transaction in which PFR and Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń S.A. (PZU) acquired 32.8% of the shares in Bank Polska Kasa Opieki S.A. (Bank Pekao) from UniCredit S.p.A. (UniCredit).Gide has advised Polski Fundusz Rozwoju S.A. (PFR) on all legal aspects of the historic transaction in which PFR and Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń S.A. (PZU) acquired 32.8% of the shares in Bank Polska Kasa Opieki S.A. (Bank Pekao) from UniCredit S.p.A. (UniCredit).
On 7 June, the transaction was closed in which PFR and PZU acquired approx. 32.8% of the shares in Bank Pekao, for a total of PLN 10.6 billion (EUR 2.65 billion approx.). This came after Poland’s Financial Supervisory Authority (the KNF) approved the transaction on 4 May, as performance of the share purchase agreement concluded in December 2016. With this operation, PZU now owns 52.49 million shares (approx. 20%), while PFR holds 33.6 million shares (approx. 12.8%) in Bank Pekao. This is one of the largest and most important transactions conducted in the Polish financial sector in recent years.
Gide advised PFR on this project - advice included negotiating the purchase agreement for shares in Bank Pekao from UniCredit, negotiating other documentation related to the transaction, including the shareholders' agreement setting out the terms of cooperation between PFR and PZU once the shares were acquired, and the consortium agreement on the terms and conditions of acquiring the shares.
As part of the transaction, Gide's lawyers also advised PFR on negotiating a loan from Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski S.A. to partially finance the purchase of shares in Bank Pekao, and related documentation.
Gide’s team was made up of:
PFR (Polski Fundusz Rozwoju S.A.) is a financial group owned by the State Treasury, offering instruments for the development of businesses, local authorities and individuals investing in the sustainable social and economic growth of the country. In this operation, the aim of PFR, as a long-term strategic financial partner to PZU, is to support PZU's strategy to create a strong Polish banking group with significant growth potential.
PZU (Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń S.A.) is the largest Polish insurance company. Following the takeover of Bank Pekao. it became the largest financial group in Central Eastern Europe, leading in the insurance, banking and asset management sectors.
Bank Pekao (Bank Polska Kasa Opieki S.A.) is one of the largest and oldest Polish financial institutions, and is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
