ING to buy remaining stake in Handlowy-Heller in Poland

ING Group NV said its unit ING Wholesale Banking agreed to buy the remaining shares in Handlowy-Heller, a leading provider of working capital finance and factoring services in Poland, for an undisclosed sum.

ING said it will increase its effective participation in the company to 100 pct from 25 pct through two separate transactions with GE Commercial Finance and Bank Handlowy w Warszawie SA Group, Handlowy-Heller's two other shareholders.

On 30 September, ING agreed to buy GE Commercial Finance's shareholding in Handlowy-Heller, giving ING a 50 pct stake. This sale was arranged under the framework of an earlier agreement between ING and GE Commercial Finance to restructure their NMB-Heller joint venture, as announced in December 2004.

Today a separate agreement was signed with Bank Handlowy w Warszawie, whereby ING agreed to acquire Bank Handlowy w Warszawie's 50 pct stake in Handlowy-Heller, thus bringing ING's stake to 100 pct.

Both transactions are subject to approval from the Polish regulatory authorities and are expected to be completed around the end of the year.

Financial details of the transactions were not disclosed, but ING said the purchase will have no material impact on the financial ratios of ING Group.

Handlowy-Heller provides working capital finance and factoring services to corporate clients with a focus on small and medium-sized companies. The newly acquired entity will strengthen ING Wholesale Banking's Commercial Finance network in Europe.

Source: Forbes/AFX