Czech Republic: Patria considers its suitors

The pack of acquisitive admirers circling around Patria Finance, Prague’s much respected investment-banking firm, is growing bigger. Komercni Banka, the Czech Republic’s biggest bank, made the first approach. Then came international investment banks, with Fleming and Merrill Lynch reputedly among them.

Now, in the wake of last month’s $4.7 billion acquisition of Belgium’s Banque Bruxelles Lambert (BBL) by Holland’s ING, the Dutch bank’s investment-banking arm, ING Barings, may enter the fray. Patria is 49% owned by MC-BBL, the east European investment-banking joint venture between Hans-Joerg Rudloff’s MC Securities and BBL.