Shares in Nordea rose by as 16 percent today after a report that SEB plans to buy a 20 percent stake in the Nordic banking group.
SEB is currently in advanced talks to buy the stake and would pay a 30 percent premium to the current market price, according to a report in Swedish daily Dagens Industri.
Shares in Nordea rose 8.9 percent to 112.30 kronor, having climbed as much as 16 percent in early European trading to a record high of 119.30 kronor. Shares in SEB grew by 4.1 percent in morning trading.
Nordea has a market capitalization of around 267 billion kronor, which is more than twice the 130 billion kronor valuation of SEB, meaning it could prove difficult for SEB to fund a full takeover if it buys the stake.
The Swedish government has said it plans to sell its 19.9 percent stake in Nordea, but hasn’t given a firm timetable for the sale.
However, analysts expect the holdings to be offloaded sometime before the country’s next election, sometime around 2010.