While Nordea has a strong presence in the large corporate segment in the Baltics, DNB is strong in the small and medium enterprises (SME) segment.
The combination is also expected to have an even larger and more competitive retail business.
Nordea Baltic countries banking head said: “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.”
Besides, the combined bank will have a strong geographic presence, with Nordea’s strong Estonian, DNB’s strong Lithuanian and jointly strong Latvian footprints.
While Nordea currently has an employ count of 1,300 for Baltic operations, DNB employs 1,800 people.
DNB Baltic division head Mats Wermelin said: “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.”
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and conditions, and is expected to close around in the second quarter of 2017.
In July, Nordea had split its retail banking into two business areas, personal banking and commercial & business banking for improved customer focus.
Image: Nordea Norway HQ at Middelthunsgate 17 in Oslo. Photo courtesy of J. P. Fagerback/Wikipedia.
