OREANDA-NEWS. The acquisition agreement between Swedbank and the owners of TAS was announced on February 7, 2007 and all customary closing conditions have now been completed, reported the press-centre of Swedbank.

The acquisition sum is of 735 million USD, including an equity increase of 50 million USD to TAS. An additional payment of up to USD 250 million is payable in three years, subject to the financial performance of the bank.

The acquisition of TAS is in line with Swedbank’s strategy to expand in Eastern Europe, where the bank already is market leader in the Baltic region. Ukraine has an expected strong growth and a low penetration of financial services, says Jan Liden, CEO of Swedbank.

TAS has 3,000 employees and provides service to more than 125,000 private customers and 16,000 corporate customers. The head office is situated in Kiev and there are 191 more offices around Ukraine.