The biggest banking group in Nordic and Baltic countries completed the legal takeover of part of the assets of Polish bank Kredyt Bank S.A. Vilnius branch. This deal allows Nordea to increase its presence not only in Lithuania's capital but also in other major cities Kaunas, Klaipėda and Panevėžys.

Nordea Bank Lietuva continues its activities as a branch of Nordea Bank Finland. The customer service units and 3 sales points will be located in Vilnius and Nordea will have one branch office in Kaunas, Klaipėda and Panevėžys. Vilnius head office of Kredyt Bank will be closed.

"The deal allows us to strengthen our positions in all major cities of Lithuania. It is crucial issue as the economy soars not only in the capital city. The branch network keeps us close to our customers and it helps us offer our services right in time and skillfully. Besides of this, the expansion allows us to strengthen our position in a retail banking market," says Steen Trondhjem Nielsen, General manager of Nordea Bank Lietuva.

More than two thirds of Kredyt bank customers have chosen the Nordea and the conditions of their deposits and loans agreements have not been changed.

"The process shows once more that Nordea's banking products are extremely competitive. We are going to push the limits even further in a mortgage market and to increase our presence in a big projects," admits S.T.Nielsen.

The agreement has been signed on third of June, 2004. The Bank of Lithuania and the Competition Council gave their permissions for the deal. The process lasted only a bit more than 6 weeks.

Acquiring Kredyt Bank Vilnius branch Nordea continues to implement the strategy of expansion in the Baltic region. Nordea has 79 branch offices in Poland and the Baltic countries.