China's Geely group to take majority stake in Denmark's Saxo Bank

[COPENHAGEN] Chinese automotive group Geely will increase its stake in Denmark's Saxo Bank to 51.5 per cent while Finland's Sampo Oyj will take a stake of 19.9 per cent, Saxo said on Monday.

Sampo said in a separate announcement that it would pay 265 million euros (S$425.25 million) for its stake. Saxo Bank said Geely would pay the same price.

Geely, which owns carmaker Volvo, said in May it would take a 30 per cent stake in Saxo Bank.

Saxo Bank derives most of its income from its online trading platform, and Geely said on Monday that it believed the Danish firm's technologies could be expanded across Asia.

Current Saxo Bank shareholders TPG Capital and SinarMas have accepted the offers from Geely and Sampo and will sell all of their shares, while co-founder and CEO Kim Fournais' stake of 25.71 per cent will remain unchanged, Saxo Bank said.

REUTERS