Swedbank completes acquisition in Russia

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.

Swedbank’s vision is to be the leading financial institution in the markets, where we are present. Swedbank has 9 million retail customers and 600,000 corporate customers with more than 459 branches in Sweden, 300 branches in the Baltic countries and another 190 branches in Ukraine. The group is also present in Copenhagen, Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Luxembourg, Marbella, Moscow, New York, Oslo, Shanghai, St. Petersburg and Tokyo. As of December 2007 the group had total assets of SEK 1,600 billion ($263.5 billion) and approximately 22,000 employees. (press release)