WARSAW – May 31, 2019 – Société Générale has completed the sale of Euro Bank, its retail banking subsidiary in Poland, to Bank Millennium.
The transaction price for the sale of Euro Bank is PLN 1.83 billion.
The transaction involved the sale of Euro Bank in the entirety, and unlike other recent transactions in the banking sector, did not include a demerger separating the retail business from the foreign currency mortgage business. The transaction was governed by Polish law and included unique risk sharing arrangements in respect of the Swiss Franc denominated mortgage loan portfolio of Euro Bank. The transaction required the approval of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego) and the Polish antitrust authority (UOKiK).
Greenberg Traurig, LLP advised Société Générale as its Polish counsel in structuring and negotiating the transaction, development of the risk sharing arrangements for the Swiss Franc denominated mortgage portfolio, and consultations with the Polish Financial Supervision Authority, and other Polish law aspects required for the successful completion of the sale.
The legal work on the transaction was supervised by Senior Partner Lejb Fogelman and led by Partner Stephen Horvath and Partner Łukasz Pawlak.
The leading assistance in respect of negotiations and closing of the transaction was provided by Senior Associate Maciej Pietrzak and Associate Magdalena Medyńska.
The Greenberg Traurig team also included: Partners Marek Kozaczuk and Robert Gago; Local Partners Karolina Dunin-Wilczyńska, Anna Hałas-Krawczyk and Michał Bobrzyński; of Counsel prof. Adam Opalski; Senior Associates dr Mateusz Śliżewski, Magdalena Bachleda-Księdzularz, Maciej Kacymirow, Radosław Pawluk, Ewa Tabor-Maciejewska; along with Associates, Agnieszka Stopińska, Grzegorz Socha, and Marta Kownacka.
Shearman & Sterling advised Société Générale on French law and other matters related to the transaction.
Société Générale is one of the largest European financial services groups with 31 million customers in 67 countries. Based on a diversified and integrated banking model, the Group combines financial solidity and a strategy of sustainable growth. Société Générale will continue to provide corporate and investment banking services in Poland, and will remain present in the country in various other activities.
Greenberg Traurig LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, multi-practice law firm with approximately 2,000 attorneys serving clients from 39 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Greenberg Traurig Grzesiak sp.k. was named the 2019 and 2018 Most Innovative Law Firm of the Year for Poland by International Financial Law Review (IFLR) and the 2017 Law Firm of the Year in Poland by Chambers and Partners. Greenberg Traurig was ranked as number one in the Mergermarket Global & Regional M&A Report 2018 with respect to the value of M&A transactions handled in Poland in 2018. The total value of the transactions on which Greenberg Traurig advised its clients amounted to USD 2.807 billion.
Greenberg Traurig in Poland provides legal services to the largest Polish and international companies and institutions in Central Europe and beyond. The Warsaw office has over 100 lawyers considered to be the leading lawyers in Poland. Team members are regularly recognized as leaders in numerous practice areas. Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, IFLR1000, and EMEA Legal 500 consistently rank them among the top tiers in the areas of Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets, Private Equity, project financing, competition law, court and arbitration proceedings, tax as well as such fields as: Real Estate, Energy, Banking and Finance, Insurance and TMT.