Nordic Business Report-November 9, 2006-Sampo plc to sell Sampo Bank to Danske Bank A/S (C)1994-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com Finnish financial group Sampo plc said on Thursday (9 November) that it has signed an agreement to sell all shares of Sampo Bank plc to Danske Bank A/S. The cash consideration has been set at EUR4,050m. Before the closing of the transaction Sampo Bank will pay a dividend of EUR25m to Sampo plc. Sampo Group will book a sales gain of some EUR2.9bn from the transaction. Sampo Bank will continue to operate under its current name. Sampo Bank Group consists of Sampo Bank plc in Finland and its subsidiary banks in the Baltic countries and Russia, and a number of investment services companies. The bank and investment services reported a pre-tax profit of EUR279m for January-September 2006. Sampo Groups other business areas, P&C insurer If and life insurance company Sampo Life, will continue to follow their current strategies, Sampo said. Sampo Group, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, is the leading Nordic insurer with an annual premium income of EUR3.5bn in P&C insurance and EUR600m in life insurance. Sampo is listed on the Nordic Exchange in Helsinki. One British pound (GBP) is worth approximately 1.48 euros (EUR). ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected]))