Cerberus Capital Management has agreed to acquire the retail banking operations of Citi’s Bank Handlowy SA through its local platform, VeloBank SA.
Cerberus Capital Management LP’s Polish unit agreed to acquire the consumer business of Citigroup’s Bank Handlowy SA, increasing its footprint in the nation’s banking industry.
Cerberus’s VeloBank SA will pay
as much as 532 million zloty ($142 million) for Handlowy’s retail operations with 8.9 billion zloty of assets in the deal expected for completion in mid-2026, both lenders said in statements. The disposal, sought since 2021, will help Handlowy to focus solely on corporate and investment banking.
The US private equity fund entered into Polish banking last year by acquiring
retail-focused lender emerged from the demise of Getin Noble Bank SA. The country’s high interest-rate environment helped Cerberus to transform VeloBank to profitable business and increase its assets to above 50 billion zloty. The record profits of the Polish banking industry have also allured other investors — including Erste Group Bank AG, which earlier this month bought the Polish unit of Banco Santander SA.
“We are proud that we may support VeloBank management in the next step of ambitious growth,” Cerberus’s Charles Dunlap said in the statement.
Source: Konrad Krasuski of Bloomberg
