4th Feb 2005 07:45
Barclays PLC04 February 2005 4 February 2005 BARCLAYS AND FORENINGSSPARBANKEN PARTNER TO LAUNCH NORDIC CREDIT CARD OPERATION 4th February - Barclays PLC (Barclays) and ForeningsSparbanken (FSB), also knownas Swedbank, have signed an agreement to form a joint venture (JV) to providecredit cards in the Nordic market, subject to confirmatory due diligence andregulatory approvals. Barclaycard, one of Europe's leading card and consumer finance businesses andFSB, Sweden's leading retail bank, aim to build a market-leading, pan-Nordiccredit card business. With average incomes among the highest in Europe, lowcredit card penetration and a strong economic outlook, the Nordic market hasexcellent potential for growth. FSB is placing all of its credit, charge and store card business across Swedenand Norway into the JV, which will continue to provide card products to FSBcustomers. Barclays is investing £76.5 million for a 50% economic interest andwill finance the transaction from existing cash resources. The JV will be headquartered in Stockholm and will start with some 500,000customers and approximately £280 million in credit card receivables, splitroughly equally across Sweden and Norway. The JV will offer FSB's 4.1 millionretail banking customers competitive and attractive new card products providingopportunity to drive organic growth. The JV also sees significant potential inthe open market and across the Nordic region. Following the acquisition of Juniper Financial Corporation in the USA last year,this move is a further extension of Barclays strategy to grow its global productbusinesses. Barclays has an objective that, within ten years, the internationalcredit card business of Barclaycard should be as meaningful a contributor to theGroup as Barclaycard UK. In addition to the USA, Barclaycard has operations incountries such as Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and South Africa. "This is a powerful partnership which combines FSB's customer and distributionstrengths in Scandinavia with Barclaycard's leading-edge risk management andcustomer acquisition skills," comments Barclaycard Chief Executive, GaryHoffman. "With access to Barclaycard's skills and extensive international experience incredit cards and consumer credit, we will be able to serve customers withexciting new products and features," says Jan Liden, President and CEO of FSB. - ends - Contact at Barclays: Ian BarberHead of Public Relations, BarclaycardTel: + 44 (0) 1604 25 1229 James S JohnsonInvestor Relations, BarclaysTel: +44 (0) 207 116 2927 About Barclays PLC Barclays PLC is a major global financial services provider primarily offeringbanking, investment banking and investment management services. Present in over60 countries, Barclays is a leading provider of global services employing over76,200 people worldwide. With over 300 years of history and expertise inbanking, Barclays PLC has six major divisions. UK Banking, delivers bankingproducts and services to over 14 million personal customers and 746,000businesses in the UK. Barclaycard, is one of the leading credit card businessesin Europe with 11.9 million credit card customers across the UK and Europe.Barclaycard now incorporates all of the Group's UK secured and card lendingproducts and expertise. Barclays Capital, the investment banking division, whichprovides corporate, institutional and government clients with solutions to theirfinancing and risk management needs. Barclays Global Investors, one of theworld's largest asset managers and a leading provider of investment managementproducts and services. Private Clients, Barclays wealth management operation,with over 375,000 affluent and high net worth clients. International Retail andCommercial Banking, the global retail and commercial banking operation, with 2.2million international clients, in countries which currently include theCaribbean, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Africa. For more information aboutBarclays PLC, please visit www.barclays.com About ForeningsSparbanken ForeningsSparbanken is one of the leading banking groups in the Nordic countrieswith total assets of SEK 1,004 billion, 4.2 million household customers and225,000 corporate customers in its home market. Its own 496 branches and the 289belonging to the independent and partly owned savings banks together constituteSweden's largest distribution network for financial products and services. TheGroup also holds a market-leading position in the Baltic countries of Estonia,Latvia and Lithuania through its Hansabank subsidiary. ForeningsSparbanken isthe dominant issuer and acquirer of debit cards in Sweden, with market sharesexceeding 50 percent. ForeningsSparbanken's customers are primarily households,SMEs, municipalities, county councils and a number of large corporations. TheGroup's services are focussed on savings and asset management, residentialmortgages and financing, payments and transfer services. For more informationabout ForeningsSparbanken AB, please visit www. ForeningsSparbanken.se. This document is presented by Barclays PLC and its subsidiary undertakings(together "the Group"). It contains certain forward-looking statements withinthe meaning of Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, asamended, and Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, withrespect to certain of the Group's plans and its current goals and expectationsrelating to its future financial condition and performance. Theseforward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relateonly to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements sometimes usewords such as "anticipate", "target", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "plan","goal", "believe", or other words of similar meaning. By their nature,forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate tofuture events and circumstances, including UK domestic and global economic andbusiness conditions, market related risks such as interest rate and exchangerate risks, the policies and action of governmental and regulatory authorities,changes in legislation and the impact of competition, a number of which arebeyond the Group's control. As a result, the Group's actual future results maydiffer materially from the plans, goals and expectations set forth in theGroup's forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements made by or onbehalf of Barclays speak only as of the date they are made. Barclays does notundertake to up-date forward-looking statements to reflect any changes inBarclay's expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditionsor circumstances on which any such statement is based. The reader should,however, consult any additional disclosures that Barclays has made or may makein documents it has filed or may file with the US Securities and Exchangecommission. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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