Norway grants approval to if...

Norway grants approval to new P&C insurance company if. if., the new property & casualty insurance company, was today granted a licence by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance for the deal made between Skandia and Storebrand. Regulatory approval in Finland is expected early next year. It was on 22 February that Norway's Storebrand and Sweden's Skandia decided to form the premier Nordic property & casualty insurance company. On 23 June, Finland's Pohjola also decided to join its property & casualty insurance operation with the new company, which was named if. in November. Skandia owns 42 per cent of if., which will have a Nordic market share of over 20 per cent. For further information, please contact: Ulf Spång, Executive Vice President and CFO, Skandia, tel. +46-8-788 29 05 Birgitta Hammarström, Press Officer, Skandia, tel. +46-8-788 27 55, or +46-70-378 27 55 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/20/19991220BIT00790/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/20/19991220BIT00790/bit0002.pdf