SEB increases its holding in Latvijas Unibanka to above 50 per cent

SEB increases its holding in Latvijas Unibanka to above 50 per cent Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) has acquired an additional amount of 565,000 shares in Latvijas Unibanka, equivalent to approximately 1.5 per cent of the total share capital in Unibanka. This brings SEB's total holding to 50.4 per cent of Unibanka´s share capital. The deal requires permissions from the Bank of Latvia and from the Latvian Securities Market Commission since SEB will own more than 50 per cent of the shares and votes in Unibanka. SEB entered into an agreement with Unibanka in November 1998, which gave SEB an initial holding of 23.1 per cent. SEB subsequently increased its holding during the first half of 1999 by acquiring 5.9 per cent from the Latvian Privatisation Agency, 15.4 per cent from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD and 4.5 per cent in the market. All this brought SEB's total holding and voting capacity to 48.8 per cent of Unibanka´s share capital by May 10, 1999. SEB also owns 45.1 per cent of the share capital in Eesti Ühispank (Estonia) and 41.5 per cent of the share capital in Vilniaus Bankas (Lithuania). For further information, please contact: Mr Mats Kjaer, Managing Director, SEB Baltic Holding, phone +46-40-6676101, mobile +46-70-6242677 Mr Boo Ehlin, Head of External Relations, SEB Group Communications, phone +46-8-7638577, mobile +46-70-7638577 Lotta Treshow, Head of Investor Relations, @ +46 8 763 9559 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/08/20/19990820BIT00360/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/08/20/19990820BIT00360/bit0002.pdf