Erste Group completes €7B acquisition of controlling stake in Erste Bank Polska
What's the deal? Erste GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has completed its acquisition of a 49% controlling stake in Erste Bank PolskaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — the former Santander Bank Polska — for a total cash consideration of approximately €7 billion. The deal, which also included a 50% stake in the Polish asset management arm (Santander TFI), closed in January 2026 and makes Erste the main shareholder with de facto control of Poland's third-largest bank by assets.
Who's involved? The stake was bought from Santander GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which announced the disposal in May 2025 and retains a residual holding. Erste describes the all-cash transaction — its largest cross-border deal in two decades — as completing its Central and Eastern European footprint, funded without raising additional capital thanks to internal capital generation.
Why it matters: The Polish acquisition anchors Erste's push to consolidate its position across CEE, taking the group to 23 million customers. The bank plans to rebrand the Polish subsidiary from Santander to Erste Bank Polska during 2026.
The signal: Coinciding with the deal, Erste was named CEE's Best Bank for the third consecutive year in Euromoney's Awards for Excellence, which singled out the Polish acquisition as a strategic milestone. With the stake sealed, the group is leaning on digital tools — including its "George Invest" platform and "Hey George" AI advice tool — to court younger customers.
Read more: Erste Group
