Swedish SEB, Swedbank to merge

Sweden’s third and fourth biggest banks, SEB and Swedbank, plan to join forces in an all-share deal creating the Nordic region’s second largest bank with European ambitions, they said on Thursday.Under the share exchange terms — four Swedbank shares for every five in SEB — SEB would acquire Swedbank for 68.3 billion Swedish crowns ($6.87 billion), or a six percent discount to its market value based on Wednesday’s close. However, the banks said it was also possible that Swedbank, though smaller, would technically acquire SEB in which case the same share swap ratio would value SEB as the takeover target at 74.1 billion crowns for a two percent premium.