Danish Banks Consolidate

COPENHAGEN, Sept 15 (Reuters) – The Danish banking sector, which is brimming with more than 100 small local lenders, saw two deals on Monday, prompted by last month’s collapse of Roskilde and by the expansionary plans of a big Swedish bank.
Sweden’s Handelsbanken said it had bid 810 million Danish crowns ($152 million) for Lokalbanken Nordsjaelland, a bank headquartered in wealthiest part of Denmark.
Earlier in the day, Denmark’s largest mortgage lender, Nykredit, bid 105 crowns per share, or 1.8 billion crowns, for Forstaedernes, another local lender.
In August, Denmark’s central bank, with help from the financial sector, stepped in to save Roskilde , brought low by bad loans to the slumping real estate sector.
Nykredit Chief Executive Peter Engberg Jensen said the mortgage lender had bid for the bank because of Forstaedernes’ focus on loans to mid-sized companies and private customers.
Independent banking consultant Bjarne Jensen said the rationale behind the day’s two deals was dissimilar.
“It is a good price for a good bank,” Chief Executive Par Boman told Reuters.
While the Danish mortgage market is dominated by a few larger players, retail banking and corporate lending is more fragmented. There are around 130 small banks, which typically operate in specific regions.