According to Nils Melngailis, Chairman of the Board of Luminor Group AB, Blackstone’s strong relationships within the financial services industry, as well as their long and successful history of supporting entrepreneurial businesses make them an ideal new partner for Luminor.
“Our strategy is to provide next generation financial services through the launch of innovative products and services tailored to the Baltic market. Blackstone’s investment is fully aligned with the bank’s vision, and their support will both strengthen and accelerate the execution of our strategy to become the leading independent financial group focused on the Baltic region,” he said.
“The sale is the natural next step following the establishment of Luminor in 2017 whereby Nordea and DNB created the third largest bank in the region – a strong stand-alone bank. With this transaction we are able to further consolidate our focus and efforts towards our core Nordic markets, and it allows us to redeploy capital into those Nordic markets over the coming years”, commented Topi Manner, Head of Personal Banking at Nordea.
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms with approximately USD 440 billion in assets under management invested across asset classes on a global basis.
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in 2019.
As a result of the transaction, each of Nordea and DNB will hold approximately 20 per cent of Luminor and maintain ongoing representation on Luminor’s Board of Directors.
Created in 2017 through the combination of Nordea’s and DNB’s operations in the Baltics, Luminor is the 3rd largest financial services provider in the region, with a 23% lending market share, €15 billion of assets, 3,000 employees and 64 branches across the region.
