DNB NOR FINANS TO ACQUIRE SKANDIABANKEN BILFINANS

DnB NOR Finans will become one of the key providers of car financing in Scandinavia after acquiring SkandiaBanken Bilfinans` operations in Sweden and Norway. `We will purchase a portfolio of 115 000 customer contracts and a total credit portfolio of NOK 11 billion,` says Stein Ove Steffensen, managing director of DnB NOR Finans. Complete statement on www.newsweb.no DnB NOR Finans will become one of the key providers of car financing in Scandinavia after acquiring SkandiaBanken Bilfinans` operations in Sweden and Norway. `We will purchase a portfolio of 115 000 customer contracts and a total credit portfolio of NOK 11 billion,` says Stein Ove Steffensen, managing director of DnB NOR Finans. The purchase price is about NOK 1.9 billion, corresponding to 2.2 times implicit risk-adjusted capital. Over the past six months, DnB NOR has purchased SEB`s vendor-based car financing operations and the real estate brokerage chain Svensk Fastighetsförmedling, and presented a bid for the distribution company SalusAnsvar. The acquisition of SkandiaBanken Bilfinans may thus become the fourth bolt-on acquisition by DnB NOR in Sweden within a short period. Priority area `Car financing for private individuals and companies is a core business for DnB NOR Finans and a priority area for the DnB NOR Group. This acquisition is also a further manifestation of our determination to create a full-service financial services group in Sweden,` says Rune Bjerke, group chief executive of DnB NOR. DnB NOR Finans offers products within loans, leasing and fleet management in Norway and Sweden. Upon the completion of this transaction, DnB NOR Finans will have a financing portfolio of some 250 000 vehicles. Market shares within car financing will be around 30 per cent in Norway and just below 20 per cent in Sweden. Growth and competence SkandiaBanken Bilfinans has achieved average annual growth in business volumes of 19 per cent in Norway and 11 per cent in Sweden since 1998. The operations to be acquired have some 120 employees. DnB NOR Finans is Norway`s largest finance company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of DnB NOR Bank ASA. The company operates from 14 locations in Norway, as well as from Stockholm, Gothenburg and Copenhagen. Following the acquisition, the company will have total assets of NOK 45 billion, 300 000 customer contracts, annual factoring turnover NOK 60 billion, and employ close to 650 persons. Most of the employees of both DnB NOR Finans and SkandiaBanken working within car financing operations in Norway, are located in Bergen. `Both organisations are marked by a strong sales drive, close relations to car dealers, and satisfied customers. Economies of scale and the exchange of skills and web solutions will further strengthen this position,` says Steffensen. The transaction is expected to increase earnings per share marginally, and the profitability of the operation will meet DnB NOR`s return on investment requirement. The transaction will be completed during the first half of 2008, conditional on approval by Swedish and Norwegian authorities.