DnB Nord bites at BISE

Last December, it acquired a more than 76-percent stake in BISE from the bank's main shareholders, the Industrial Development Agency and Credit Cooperatif. Now it has contacted minority shareholders with an offer to acquire the remaining stakes, over which it hopes to gain control in the next few weeks. The entire stake in BISE, including its earlier purchase, will cost DnB Nord around EUR 140 (zł.545) million.

DnB Nord Polska's president, Jarosław Dšbrowski, hopes that the acquisition will help his bank make it into the industry's top 15. "If we maintain the current growth rate, we could reach this goal in three to five years," he declared.

The merger will allow both sides to enter new segments of the industry. "Through the acquisition of BISE we are moving into the SME and retail markets," said Tony Samuelsen, vice president of DnB Nord group. It specializes in corporate banking, while BISE serves clients from the SME sector, as well as local-government entities and retail customers.

Dšbrowski disclosed that applications for permission to merge the banks had been submitted to the central bank, the Financial Supervisory Commission and the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection. "We hope we get permission by the end of Q1," Dšbrowski said. As for the process of merging the two banks, the president expects it to finish in 2008. The new bank will function under the DnB Nord brand.