BNbank, a Norwegian private banking subsidiary of the Icelandic financial services group Glitnir, has acquired a 45 per cent stake in Norsk ...

BNbank, a Norwegian private banking subsidiary of the Icelandic financial services group Glitnir, has acquired a 45 per cent stake in Norsk Privatøkonomi, which serves private clients throughout Norway. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Norsk Privatøkonomi recently obtained a securities firm licence and provides advice to private clients. The firm has 90 employees. “Our aim is to consolidate our distribution capacity, by combining Norsk Privatøkonomi's strong position in the financial advisory market with BNbank's solid product platform,” said Gunnar Jerven, chief executive of BNbank, in a statement. In the first six months of 2006, Norsk Privatøkonomi arranged loans worth NOK 2.8 billion ($445 million) and sold savings products to a value of NOK 1.1 billion. This represents increases of 56 per cent and 137 per cent respectively, compared to the corresponding period last year.