The board of directors of Norway-based DnB NOR has agreed to begin evaluating whether to acquire the 49% it doesn’t own in DnB NORD from German lender Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (NORD/LB), reported Wall Street Journal.
After the expiry of the evaluation period, which will end on 31 July 2010, DnB NOR will have the right to acquire NORD/LB’s ownership interest in DnB NORD, but in that event, NORD/LB will have the right to take over DnB NORD’s Polish operations.
At present, DnB NOR and NORD/LB own 51% and 49%, respectively in DnB NORD, a Danish bank with subsidiary banks in Poland and the Baltic States.
If DnB NOR does not avail itself of the right to acquire NORD/LB’s ownership interest in DnB NORD, NORD/LB will be entitled to transfer its ownership interest in DnB NORD to DnB NOR or to take over the ownership interest of DnB NOR. If NORD/LB chooses to transfer its ownership interest in DnB NORD to DnB NOR, DnB NOR can choose not to take over DnB NORD’s Polish operations.
In a statement DnB NOR ASA said: “DnB NOR regards DnB NORD’s geographic area of operations as an area with good future earning potential, and will, during the evaluation period, consider whether to acquire Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale’s… ownership interest in DnB NORD.”
Thomas Midteide, spokesman of DnB, said: “We have the initial right as the majority stockholder to decide, but if we decide not to buy, then [NORD/LB] will have two options–either to sell or to buy for a given price.”
