Swedbank acquires asset manager Banco Fonder AB

Nordic Business Report, Sept 29, 2008

NORDIC BUSINESS REPORT-29 September 2008-Swedbank acquires asset manager Banco Fonder AB(C)1994-2008 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com

Swedish banking group Swedbank (OMX Stockholm:SWED A) announced on Monday (29 September) that its fund management unit Swedbank Robur has agreed to acquire asset manager Banco Fonder AB for an undisclosed sum.

Banco Fonder has some 128,000 customers and 26 different mutual funds. Managed assets total over SEK8bn.

"Swedbank Robur's acquisition of Banco Fonder reinforces the Swedbank Group's asset management offering and will enable us to offer our customers an even wider range of investment alternatives in the ethical investments field," commented Jan Liden, president and CEO of Swedbank.

Swedbank, headquartered in Stockholm in Sweden, is a leading financial group with some 9m retail customers and 500,000 corporate customers in Sweden, the Baltic countries and Ukraine. The group is also present in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Kiev, Luxembourg, Marbella, Moscow, New York, Oslo, Shanghai, St Petersburg and Tokyo. The group has 22,000 employees and total assets of SEK1,600bn.

One British pound (GBP) is worth approximately 12.20 Swedish kronor (SEK).

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