Hansabank in negotiations to acquire major Lithuanian bank

Hansabank in negotiations to acquire major Lithuanian bank The Lithuanian State Property Fund today announced that it will begin negotiations with Hansabank, a subsidiary of Swedbank, on the sale of Lietuvos Taupomasis Bankas (LTB). The negotiations follow a bidding process in which Hansabank was selected as the sole bidder. LTB is Lithuania's largest retail bank, with 1.5 million customers. If the negotiations lead to an acquisition, Hansabank would become by far the dominant bank in the region, with a strong presence in all three Baltic nations. Its market share for deposits would exceed 35%. "This fits in extremely well with Swedbank's strategy of expanding its home market to the geographical areas around the Baltic Sea, and we fully support Hansabank's plans," says Annika Wijkström, Executive Vice President and Head of Bank Alliances at Swedbank. For further information, please contact: Annika Wijkström, telephone +46 (0)8 5859 1397 Lennart Lundberg, telephone +46 (0)8 5859 2254, +46 (0)70 218 0318 lennart.lundberg@foreningssparbanken.se ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/29/20001229BIT00410/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/12/29/20001229BIT00410/bit0002.pdf