UniCredit is the biggest bank by assets in Italy. The financial lender had submitted a preliminary offer to acquire Poland's Bank BGZ, according to a Reuters report. UniCredit had been looking on a possible sell of its business unit Ukraine. This was according to the bank's Chief Executive Officer Federico Ghizzoni.

Ghizzoni said the move was a part of the bank's strategy to boost its presence in core countries. The financial firm also said the company would leave markets where less opportunity for growth was seen.

UniCredit's chief said the company had made an offer on a Polish bank but talks were still on an early stage. The statement was released by Ghizzoni to a group of foreign reporters on Thursday morning. Ghizzoni identified the Polish bank as BGZ, owned by Dutch lender Rabobank. The deal would fetch around USD1 billion.

A representative of BGZ said that the offer was not binding as the sale process was in a preliminary stage.