COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Sweden’s Swedbank and Norway’s SpareBank 1 alliance will establish a jointly owned Nordic investment bank by expanding the Norwegian group’s SpareBank 1 Markets operation, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
As part of the deal, SB1 Markets will take over Swedbank’s Corporate Finance and high-yield debt operations, and will also extend its equity research and equity sales to Sweden, the groups said.
Following the transaction, Swedbank will own a 20% stake in SB1 Markets, while SpareBank 1 Sor-Norge will hold 28.1%, SpareBank 1 SMN will own 31.9% and SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge 14.5%.
The remaining stakes are held by smaller Norwegian banks.
“Through this partnership, Swedbank’s corporate clients will gain access to a larger investment bank with deeper sector expertise,” Swedbank’s head of Corporates and Institutions Bo Bengtsson said in the statement.
The jointly owned Nordic operation will employ approximately 240 bankers, including about 35 from Swedbank, and is expected to be operational by the third quarter of this year, the banks said.
(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
