The divestment of 284 million ordinary shares at SEK76 ($11.84) per share marks an end of the government control on the bank, which bought stake in bank during banking crisis of 1990s.
Sweden Financial Markets Minister Peter Norman was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying, "It is good that the state has sold its holding in Nordea, more than 20 years after the banking crisis during the 1990s."
"The role of the state is to regulate banks, not to own them."
"Bank shares are assets associated with risk and banks require strict regulation and extensive supervision," Norman told the news agency.
The transaction was accomplished through an accelerated bookbuilding process, whereby Morgan Stanley acted as global coordinator and joint bookrunner, while BofA Merrill Lynch, Carnegie and Goldman Sachs International served as joint bookrunners.
In June this year, the government sold out 260 million Nordea shares in a $3bn transaction.
