Nordea and DNB have entered into an agreement to combine their operations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to create a leading main bank in the Baltics with strong Nordic roots.

“Combining knowledge of the Baltic market, close cooperation with our customers and developments in digital banking, Nordea has over the years built a solid and successful bank in the Baltic region with a strong position as number three in the Baltics. Now it is time to take the next step and build for the future. Together we will have the scale, stronger geographic presence and broader product offering enabling us to become the main bank for customers in the Baltics,” says Inga Skisaker, Head of Banking Baltic Countries, Nordea.

Nordea’s and DNB’s operations in the Baltics are a great match, with complementary lines of business. Nordea has built a strong position within the large corporate segment whereas DNB is strong in the SME segment. Together, the banks will also have an even larger and more competitive retail business. Furthermore, the combined bank will have a strong geographic presence, with Nordea’s strong Estonian, DNB’s strong Lithuanian and jointly strong Latvian footprints. Nordea’s and DNB’s Baltic operations have 1,300 and 1,800 employees and EUR 8 billion and EUR 5 billion in assets[1], respectively.

“With over 70 branches in the Baltics, DNB have created a dynamic and customer-centric operation. Scale is key in banking today, with larger banks having more efficient use of resources. The new bank will be better equipped to counter increasing competition in the region and capitalise on scale in order to become the main bank for more businesses, customers and partners in the Baltics,” says Mats Wermelin, Head of Baltic Division, DNB.

Nordea and DNB will have equal voting rights over the combined bank, while having different economic ownership levels that reflect the relative equity value of their contribution to the combined bank at the time of closing. The transaction is conditional upon regulatory approvals and conditions, and is expected to close around Q2 2017. The banks will operate independently until all necessary approvals have been received. 

[1] Based on loans and receivables to the public