Swedbank completes acquisition of corporate finance business in Russia

March 12, 2008

Swedbank has today completed the earlier announced acquisition of ZAO OKO Capital Vostok from Finnish Pohjola Bank. The company, which will change name to ZAO Swedbank Markets, is active in investment banking with a main focus on financial advice to Nordic and Russian companies in relation to acquisitions and divestures of companies and businesses in Russia. The company has seven employees.

“Through the acquisition we add Russia, where we have offices in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, to our local presence in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We now have a total of over 40 professionals working with advice to our customers. Nordic customers are very interested in the Baltics and Russia, and we have already seen good results from our combination of local presence and wide geographic reach in our cross border transactions. The acquisition strengthens us even further”, says Magnus Geeber, Head of Swedbank Corporate Finance.