Nordea and DNB to combine Baltic operations

Nordea and DNB have entered into an agreement to combine their operations in
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to create a leading main bank in the Baltics with
strong Nordic roots.

“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,” says Inga Skisaker, Head of Banking Baltic Countries, Nordea.

Nordea’s and DNB’s operations in the Baltics are a great match, with
complementary lines of business. Nordea has built a strong position within the
large corporate segment whereas DNB is strong in the SME segment. Together, the
banks will also have an even larger and more competitive retail business.
Furthermore, the combined bank will have a strong geographic presence, with
Nordea’s strong Estonian, DNB’s strong Lithuanian and jointly strong Latvian
footprints. Nordea’s and DNB’s Baltic operations have 1,300 and 1,800 employees
and EUR 8 billion and EUR 5 billion in assets[1], respectively.

“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,” says
Mats Wermelin, Head of Baltic Division, DNB.

Nordea and DNB will have equal voting rights over the combined bank, while
having different economic ownership levels that reflect the relative equity
value of their contribution to the combined bank at the time of closing. The
transaction is conditional upon regulatory approvals and conditions, and is
expected to close around Q2 2017. The banks will operate independently until all
necessary approvals have been received.

[1] Based on loans and receivables to the public

With regard to the announcement we invite you to a press meeting. Inga Skisaker,
Head of Banking Baltic Countries, Nordea and Mats Wermelin, Head of Baltic
Division, DNB will participate.

Time: Thursday 25 August 11.30 CET (12.30EET). For security reasons, a valid
identity card is required. To attend the press conference, please e-mail Signe
Lonerte, signe.lonerte@nordea.com, +371 2911 6146.

Place: The Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija, Elizabetes 55, Riga, Latvia
The press conference will be conducted in English.


For further information:

Nordea:
Signe Lonerte, Head of Communication Baltic Countries, Nordea, +371 29 11 61 46,
signe.lonerte@nordea.com
Magnus Nelin, Chief Press Officer, Sweden, Nordea, +46 721 45 26 40,
magnus.nelin@nordea.com

DNB:
Thomas Midteide, Group Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, DNB,
+47 962 32 017, thomas.midteide@dnb.no


About Nordea

Nordea is among the ten largest universal banks in Europe in terms of total
market capitalisation and has around 11 million customers, 30,000 employees and
approximately 600 branch office locations. The Nordea share is listed on the
Nasdaq Stockholm, Nasdaq Helsinki and Nasdaq Copenhagen exchanges. We have a
broad expertise across the wide range of products, services and solutions that
we provide within banking, asset management and insurance. In Nordea we build
trusted relationships through our strong engagement with both customers and
society.

About DNB

DNB is Norway's largest financial services group and one of the largest in the
Nordic region in terms of market capitalization. The Group offers a full range
of financial services, including loans, savings, advisory services, insurance
and pension products for retail and corporate customers. DNB is a major operator
in a number of industries, for which we also have a Nordic or international
strategy. DNB is one of the world’s leading shipping banks and has a strong
position in the energy sector, and the fisheries and seafood industry.