Sampo receives support from Storebrand shareholders

Sampo has confirmed that shareholders representing 83.5% of the shares in Storebrand have accepted Sampo’s offer of NKr 75 in cash or 0.9 Sampo A shares for each Storebrand share. The offer corresponds to a 31.1% premium above Storebrand’s average monthly share price prior to the announcement of the offer. The NKr 20.8bn offer topped Den Norske Bank’s NKr 17.6bn bid, which was seen by the Norwegian finance minister, Karl-Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen, as more of a ‘Norwegian solution’. Den Norske Bank holds a 9.76% stake in Storebrand and has refused to sell its shares to the Finnish bidder. Sampo’s offer is conditional, inter alia, upon Sampo receiving acceptances from shareholders representing 90% of the shares and voting power in Storebrand. As the conditions of the offer were not met or waived during the offer period, Sampo’s board of director decided to extend the offer period until August 10, 2001. Norway’s Department of Finance has already received an application from Sampo requesting it be permitted to buy 83.5% of Storebrand’s shares. Storebrand officials have said that successful completion of the merger will mean pre-tax cost-savings of some NKr 480m. Top management of the combined company will be Finnish, while the life assurance operation will be based in Oslo.

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