Nordea close to finalising purchase of LG Petro Bank in Poland

Nordea close to finalising purchase of LG Petro Bank in Poland Nordea has signed conditional share purchase agreements with Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen S.A., Energetyka Poznañska S.A. and KWB Be³chatów S.A. to purchase 37.2 percent of the shares in the Polish bank LG Petro Bank. Nordea now has unconditional acceptances for 91.5 percent of the shares and anticipates to announce the tender offer for all outstanding shares in LG Petro Bank as soon as possible in accordance with the conditional share purchase agreement with LG of Korea entered into on 7 May 2002. "These agreements mean that we are close to finalising the full purchase of LG Petro Bank," says Thomas Neckmar, EVP, Head of Nordea in Poland and the Baltic countries. LG Petro Bank S.A. is among Poland's 20 largest banks with a customer base of more than 160,000 private individuals and several of Poland's largest corporations. The bank is represented in all major Polish cities via a network of 29 branches and 17 mortgage outlets served by 800 employees. Nordea's current presence in Poland is via Nordea Bank Polska (formerly BWP-Unibank and Bank Komunalny). "We plan to rapidly integrate LG Petro Bank with Nordea Bank Polska strengthening our position as the leading Nordic bank in Poland, serving Nordic, international and domestic corporations, their employees and other private individuals through a nationwide branch network offering a complete range of locally adapted products", says Thomas Neckmar. Nordea will after the transaction rank among the 15 largest financial services providers in Poland. The new group will have a total of 50 branches and 17 mortgage outlets, covering all major Polish cities. Subject to fulfilment of certain formal conditions according to the agreement with LG of Korea, Nordea anticipates to launch a tender offer at PLN 21 per share as soon as possible and the total consideration for all outstanding shares will amount to PLN 467m (EUR 115m). The tender offer is conditional on 90 percent acceptance. For further information: Thomas Neckmar, EVP, Head of Nordea in Poland and the Baltic countries, +46 8 614 79 30 Erik Evrén, Head of Group Media Relations, +46 8 614 8611 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/09/24/20020924BIT00060/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/09/24/20020924BIT00060/wkr0002.pdf