FöreningsSparbanken acquires remaining shares in EnterCard AS of Norway

FöreningsSparbanken acquires remaining shares in EnterCard AS of Norway FöreningsSparbanken (Swedbank) has reached an agreement with Terra Gruppen AS to acquire the remaining 35 percent of the shares in the Norwegian charge card company EnterCard AS for NOK 69 million. Earlier this year FöreningsSparbanken reached an agreement with SpareBank 1 Gruppen AS to acquire 65 percent of the shares in EnterCard for NOK 129 million. The price of all the shares in EnterCard thus amounts to NOK 198 million. EnterCard has at the same time signed distribution agreements with SpareBank 1 Gruppen's and Terra Group's member banks on the continued distribution of charge cards to their customers. "The acquisition strengthens our position as the Nordic leader in card payment and administration services, at the same time that we can achieve good synergies with our Swedish card business," says FöreningsSparbanken President and CEO Birgitta Johansson-Hedberg. EnterCard was established in 2000 following the merger of Sparebankkort AS and Sparebank 1 Kreditkort AS. It issues all types of Visa and Master Card products, which are mainly distributed through the banks of SpareBank 1 Gruppen and Terra Gruppen. Together, these banks have a market share of approximately 35 percent in Norway. EnterCard also has cooperation agreements with the association of Norwegian cooperative societies (Coop), the Norwegian Federation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Association of Norwegian Students Abroad (ANSA). The acquisition requires regulatory approval. For further information, please contact: Birgitta Johansson-Hedberg, President and CEO, phone +46 8 585 910 88 Henrik Kolga, Head of Communications, phone +46 708 11 13 15 Jesper Berggren, Press Officer, phone +46 705 49 37 67 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/09/19/20030919BIT00010/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2003/09/19/20030919BIT00010/wkr0002.pdf