Extension of MeritaNordbanken's offer for Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse to 28 A
Extension of MeritaNordbanken's offer for Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse to 28 April 2000 MeritaNordbanken is extending its offer to purchase the entire share stock of Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse at a price of NOK 44 per share. The th offer will remain in force until 17.00 on Friday the 28 of April 2000. The offer is extended in anticipation of the guidelines determining the Norwegian government's ownership of Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse. After the shareholders' meeting of Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, MeritaNordbanken will decide whether the payment of dividend decided upon in the shareholders' meeting will affect the price level of the offer. The rationale behind the extension of the offer is also the merger between MeritaNordbanken and Unidanmark and their ambition to create the leading financial services group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions with excellent growth potential especially through Internet banking facilities. In the context of the merger both MeritaNordbanken and Unidanmark have emphasised that MeritaNordbanken will extend the offer to the shareholders of Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse in order to provide a possibility for Christiania Bank to join the leading financial group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea regions. MeritaNordbanken's offer to Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse was initially scheduled to expire at 17.00 on 29 October 1999 and was successively extended until 31 March 2000. The Board of Directors of Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, its management and employees have recommended shareholders to accept the offer, which is right from an industrial standpoint and financially fair. Further information: Markku Pohjola, Executive Vice President, +358 9 165 422 45 Lars Thalén, Senior Vice President, Corporate identity and Communications, +46 8 614 7951, +46 709 200 665 Not for distribution in Australia, Canada, Japan and U.S.A. ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/31/20000331BIT00770/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/03/31/20000331BIT00770/bit0002.pdf