WARSAW: The shares of insurer PZU on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) rose by 4.4 percent on Thursday, following news that it had agreed to buy a 32.8 percent stake in bank Pekao SA. PZU and Polski Fundusz Rozwoju (PFR), a state-owned financial group that supports economic development, are to pay PLN 10.6 billion (USD 2.58 billion, EUR 2.39 billion) for the stake, at a value of PLN 123 a share, PZU said.
The news on Thursday saw an increase in demand for shares in PZU, the largest insurer in the region. Pekao SA bank is currently part of Italy’s UniCredit group. PZU shares are part of the blue-chip WIG20 index on the Warsaw bourse.