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BNP Paribas not interested in large acquisitions: CEO

BNP Paribas SA is not interested in acquiring another large bank and would prefer to focus on becoming a digital bank, Les Echos reported Feb. 6, quoting the bank's CEO.

German media reported in September 2017 that the German government favored selling a 15.6% stake it holds in Commerzbank AG to BNP Paribas.

"We're not looking for acquisitions on a scale to transform our business, like that of Fortis 10 years ago," Jean-Laurent Bonnafé said, referring to the bank's acquisition of Dutch-Belgian bank and insurance group Fortis in 2009.

"The situation has changed since then. We must focus our energies and resources on digital transformation."

Bonnafé said the bank would waste a lot of time integrating two different companies and would fall behind in its transition to a digital bank. He said the bank would prefer to focus on organic growth, but he did not rule out targeted deals such as the bank's acquisition of Opel's and Vauxhall's financing activities with car market Groupe PSA in 2017.

His comments come as the bank reported a 1.1% drop fourth-quarter 2017 net income to €1.43 billion.