SEB has signed an agreement to acquire PetroEnergoBank, a Russian bank based in St. Petersburg. The acquisition strengthens SEB's offering in Russia currently including a representative office in Moscow and SEB Russian Leasing in St. Petersburg.

 

"For SEB the acquisition is a more efficient way of establishing banking operations in Russia compared to setting up a greenfield operation. The acquisition will enable us to provide services to our customers also in Russia," says Mats Kjaer, Executive Vice President and Head of Eastern European Banking in SEB.

 

PetroEnergoBank was established in 1995. On 30 September 2005 the bank's total assets amounted to RUR 1,718 m (SEK 468m) while its equity totalled RUR 249 m (SEK 68m).

 

The closing of the transaction is subject to receiving regulatory approvals from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

 

 

 

Since the Bank opened in 1856, generations of customers and employees have made SEB what it is today. This year the Group is celebrating 150 years of looking forward.

 

The SEB Group is a North European financial group for 400,000 corporate customers and institutions, and 5 million private customers. SEB has local presence in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Germany, Poland and the Ukraine. Approximately half of SEB's customers use the internet for their banking transactions. On 31 December 2005, the Group's total assets amounted to SEK 1,890bn while its assets under management totalled SEK 1,118bn. The Group is represented in some 20 countries around the world and has a staff of about 20,000. Read more about SEB at www.sebgroup.com.