Rymarz Zdort Maruta and Wolf Theis have advised Erste Group Bank on its acquisition of a 49% controlling stake in Santander Bank Polska and 50% of the shares in Santander Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych from Banco Santander in a transaction with a total cash consideration of approximately EUR 7 billion. Greenberg Traurig advised Banco Santander.
According to Rymarz Zdort Maruta, upon closing, Erste Group becomes the main shareholder with de facto control over Poland’s third-largest bank by assets, marking a major strategic expansion of Erste Group’s footprint in Central and Eastern Europe and significantly strengthening its presence in the Polish banking market.
The Rymarz Zdort Maruta team included Partners Jacek Zawadzki, Katarzyna Lukaszewicz, and Lukasz Gasinski, Counsels Pawel Mazur, Szymon Cieniawski, Lukasz Karasek, and Tomasz Kordala, Senior Associates Aleksander Jakubisiak and Michal Matysiak, and Associates Hanna Szczepanska-Rowicka and Julia Kosiniak.
The Wolf Theis team included Partners Richard Wolf, Claus Schneider, and Guenter Bauer.
The Greenberg Traurig team included Senior Partner Lejb Fogelman, Partners Stephen Horvath, Lukasz Pawlak, Rafal Sienski, and Pawel Piotrowski, Local Partner Maciej Pietrzak, Counsel Agnieszka Stopinska, Senior Associate Grzegorz Socha, Associates Michal Kuratowski, Piotr Brzostek, Szymon Swierszcz, and Kamil Nagawski, and Junior Associates Weronika Kopec, Patrycja Knerek, and Barbara Tumm.
