Publications
Publications
- February 2012 (Revised August 2014)
- HBS Case Collection
Poles Apart on PZU (A)
By: Francesca Gino, Vincent Dessain, Karol Misztal and Michael Khayyat
Abstract
In October 2008, Andrzej Klesyk, CEO of Poland's largest insurer PZU, reflected on possible ways of resolving a decade-long cross-border shareholder conflict at his company. Owned 55% by the Polish State Treasury and 33% by the Dutch insurer Eureko as of October 2008, PZU was a highly profitable company and Poland's biggest asset holder. Eureko aimed at majority ownership of PZU as the building block of its Eastern European expansion strategy. The Treasury, however, was reluctant to forfeit control of the country's crown jewels. Several rounds of negotiations and international arbitration failed to resolve the conflict, leading to a progressive breach of trust. Was there anything Klesyk could do to break this international and multilateral stalemate?
Keywords
Citation
Gino, Francesca, Vincent Dessain, Karol Misztal, and Michael Khayyat. "Poles Apart on PZU (A)." Harvard Business School Case 912-013, February 2012. (Revised August 2014.)