Sampo buys Skandia's shares in Pohjola

Sampo buys Skandia's shares in Pohjola The Finnish insurance group Sampo - through Sampo, Industrial Insurance, Sampo Life, Kaleva and Sampo Finance - today purchased the shares owned by Skandia in Pohjola Group Insurance Corporation. The shares make up 23.6 per cent of Pohjola's shares outstanding and 32.7 per cent of the voting rights. The deal is worth a total of EUR 577 million (FIM 3.4 billion). The intention of the share purchase is to create a base for negotiations between Sampo and Pohjola on the formation of a leading Finnish financial group. At the same time, Sampo is prepared to implement the arrangements necessary to ensure that the diversity of Finland's statutory employment pension insurance scheme is maintained. The new Nordic P&C insurance company that has been formed by Pohjola, Storebrand and Skandia is developing according to plan and is not affected by Sampo's share acquisition. Following approval by the EC Commission of the formation of this company in August, the remaining regulatory approvals are expected soon. In its capacity as a Pohjola shareholder, Sampo intends to work for a change in the ownership of Service Pohjola so as to allow this company to remain as a distribution channel for "Newco" and the employment pension company Ilmarinen. As regards the remaining cross-ownership between Pohjola and Skandia, it is Sampo's intention that this will eliminated over the long term. Commenting on Sampo's acquisition of the shares, Skandia's president and CEO, Lars-Eric Petersson, said: "Pohjola, Storebrand and Skandia formed the leading Nordic P&C insurance company earlier this year. In the restructuring now taking place among financial companies in the Nordic region, it is positive that a strong Finnish player can be formed through Sampo's acquisition of Skandia's Pohjola shares." Sampo's acquisition of Skandia's Pohjola shares is subject to customary regulatory approvals. For further information, please call: Birgitta Hammarström, Press Officer, Skandia, tel. +46-8-788 2755, or +46-8-378 2755 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/13/19991013BIT00260/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/10/13/19991013BIT00260/bit0002.pdf