Poland opts for strategic investor in PHN real estate

WARSAW, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Selling a majority stake in Poland's state-owned real estate group PHN to a strategic investor would be the best solution, Treasury Minister Mikolaj Budzanowski said on Thursday.

PHN, created last year by pooling together 180 different real estate and land holdings, runs a portfolio estimated to be worth around 2.5 billion zlotys ($788 mln). The ministry said earlier it planned to float PHN on the stock exchange.

The group's assets include, among others, a Warsaw office building Intraco, built in the 1970s, which needs a major overhaul, as well as villas in the capital's upmarket district of Wilanow rented by foreign embassies.

"If we can find a strategic investor interested in a majority stake (at PHN), then this would be the best solution," Budzanowski told reporters. ($1 = 3.1733 Polish zlotys)

(Reporting by Jaroslaw Kowalski; Writing by Marcin Goettig.; Editing by Jane Merriman)

((marcin.goettig@thomsonreuters.com)(+48226539720)(Reuters

Messaging: marcin.goettig.reuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))

Keywords: POLAND PHN/