BHW Holding AG, Hamelin and Komercni banka, a.s. (KB) based in Prague have today signed an agreement on the sale of BHW's shares in the Czech savings bank, Modra pyramida stavebni sporitelna a.s. (MPSS). To date, BHW holds 50%, KB 40% and the third shareholder, Ceska pojistowna a.s. (CP), 10% of the shares in the company. A price of EUR 120 million was agreed for the full 50% of the shares held by BHW. BHW will sell its shares in full. Whether KB will take over all of the BHW-held shares or whether some shares will go to the minority shareholder, CP, will depend on the outcome of talks with CP.

The transaction is subject to approval by the Czech authorities and the result of confirmatory due diligence checks, which are limited to individual business divisions.

Together with its Czech partner companies, BHW has set up a savings bank in Prague in 1993. The savings bank has roundabout 1 million customers and total assets amounting to around EUR 2.0 billion. The dynamic growth of the Czech banking sector is enabling a sale of BHW's shares at currently favourable conditions. In addition, Deutsche Postbank AG, which acquired BHW Holding at the beginning of this year, has no presence in the Czech market. As a result, Postbank would be unable to benefit from any potential synergies at MPSS. The sale of BHW's shares therefore represents a consistent step in terms of Postbank focusing on its core business.