Pure synergy
^lÉsrawwwl JEU
Rabobank Polska and Bank BGZ:
COVER STORY
Well poised
Responding to change
treasury transactions and transaction
banking for corporate clients. Obviously, its
close relationship with Rabobank has helped
BGZ to strengthen its cooperation with non-
associated cooperative banks that service the
Polish F&A sector. And although BGZ has only
just become a full member of the Rabobank
family, it has enjoyed the benefits of Rabobank's
expertise since Rabobank acquired its first
35% stake in 2004.
The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (PFSA) gave
Rabobank the go-ahead to increase its stake in the Polish
bank in May 2008. Rabobank then acquired an additional
12.87% to bring its stake to 59.35%. In 2004, Rabobank first
acquired a 35.4% stake, which was later increased to 46.48%
mainly through the conversion of bonds into shares.
Shortly after Rabobank had been given the green light,
MBRI member Rutger Schellens said Rabobank's interest
in BGZ and the Polish market was in line with the bank's
ambition to become a major player in new markets and,
more specifically, to play a key role in the Food and Agri-
business sector in countries like Poland. "Our priority is to
enable BGZ to further improve and expand both its quality
and market share in Poland," said Schellens.
Bank BGZ itself is a universal commercial bank and one of
the ten largest banks in Poland, with around one million
customers and thousands of corporate clients. The bank
has nearly 5,100 employees, with 1,000 of these based in its
Warsaw head office. Of great importance is the fact that BGZ
is also the main provider of financial services in the Polish
Food and Agribusiness sector, and has a strong presence
in smaller and medium-sized cities. This puts BGZ and
Rabobank in a perfect position to take advantage of the
rapid growth in the Polish corporate sector and the fast
expanding Food and Agribusiness.
BGZ has long been keen to strengthen its franchise as one of
Poland's top universal banks, maintaining its leading position in
Food and Agribusiness while becoming the bank of choice
for entrepreneurs, companies and retail customers. The bank
already has a direct relationship with around 16% of all Polish
SMEs, but has plans to take that to a whole different level. BGZ
is now expanding its product range for individual customers,
with a strong focus on cash credits, deposits, investment
products and credit cards. But it is also scaling up the sale of
non-traditional banking products such as leasing, factoring,
Both BGZ and Rabobank clearly recognise the need for
change and the opportunities that represent. The Polish
banking sector is changing and this process has only
accelerated since the entry of foreign players in the
mid-1990s. Initially, foreign banks were content to serve
their home country clients largely corporate and
commercial clients investing in Poland but they quickly saw
opportunities in the fast evolving Polish commercial sector.
Polish banks, like BGZ, responded by modernising their
business operations to meet the needs of increasingly
sophisticated retail and commercial clients. Recent years
have seen a boom in credit and loan activities, plus the advent
of online banking. And it is easy to see why everybody was
keen to win a piece of the banking pie. Increasingly wealthy
Polish citizens have started to put unprecedented amounts
Rabobank has been present in Poland in the form of Rabobank Polska since
the mid 1990s. It has a firm reputation as a leading bank to large Polish and
international F&A companies. Since Rabobank joined Bank BGZ in 2004, it has
been regarded by clients, competitors and employees as a player committed to
investing substantial resources in Poland and positioning itself among the leading
universal banks. The dient segments targeted and skills developed by both
entities complement each other. While Rabo Polska adopts the approach of
providing solutions on a client-by-client basis, BGZ focuses on more standardized
solutions for market segments such as agriculture, retail and SMEs. For instance,
Rabo Polska finances food processing companies and BGZ finances the supplying
farmers, thereby creating synergies. Both entities work together to serve F&A
clients along the entire value chain. In addition, Rabobank Polska's financial
product expertise is applied to BGZ's larger dient base, enabling joint transactions
to be concluded. Moreover, the Rabobank Polska employees with their Polish
identity and Rabobank culture support the process of integrating BGZ into
the Rabobank Group.
10 ISSUE 17 o< THE WORD
