Carnegie Investment Bank, a bank with a Nordic focus and some 600 employees in eight countries, has acquired HQ Bank and HQ Fonder, the fund management arm of HQ. Both transactions have been approved by Finansinspektionen, the financial supervisory authority of Sweden, according to a press release from Carnegie.
HQ Bank is an active player in the structured products market in Sweden with 223 outstanding retail issues totalling some SEK12bn (€1.3bn). Prior to the acquisition Carnegie had 36 retail products outstanding.
Under the terms of the deal, HQ Bank operations are to be merged into Carnegie's existing operations and Carnegie has assumed all liabilities, assets and obligations towards former clients of HQ Bank with immediate effect. The merged company will be a leading independent investment bank in the Nordic region with all of the 300 former employees of HQ employed by Carnegie.
The deal comprises all issued shares in HQ Bank for SEK268m (€29m) corresponding to the amount of HQ Bank's personnel convertibles in the form of a promissory note. Furthermore, Carnegie acquires all issued shares in HQ Fonder with a payment amounting to SEK850m (€90m) in the form of convertible preference shares in Carnegie with the right to convert into shares in Carnegie corresponding to 9.9% of all shares after conversion, plus a convertible debenture of SEK369m (€40m).
HQ Bank reopened for business this morning.
