DnB NOR Bank ASA Agrees to $650 Million Sale leaseback of 22 Bank Buildings in Norway

DnB NOR Bank ASA Web Site - December 7, 2007

DnB NOR Bank ASA has entered into agreements on the sale of a further 22 bank buildings, thus concluding the sale of the bank's own commercial property portfolio announced in the spring.

The total sales price for the 22 buildings is NOK 3.6 billion ($650 million.) This will give the bank a gain of more than NOK 1.4 billion before tax. As several of the properties in the portfolio are owned by companies, the tax charge will be relatively low. The buildings were sold with an average yield of 5.62 per cent.

"We are very satisfied with both the price obtained and with the buyers. The latter is important as we have entered into long-term lease agreements for the sold properties," says Bjørn Berg, chief investment officer in DnB NOR, who has managed the sales process on behalf of the bank. He adds that the new lease agreements have a duration of between seven and ten years. The agreements will imply no significant changes in the bank's operating expenses over the coming years.

Oslo Pensjonsforsikring has bought 18 of the properties, Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR (the Savings Bank Foundation) has bought two properties, Odfjell Eiendom AS bought one property and Petter Myhre and Mohsen Shahabi bought one property.

The bank's first property sale in 2007 was DnB NOR's head office at Aker Brygge in Oslo, which was sold to the property company Norwegian Property ASA for just over NOK 1.7 billion during the summer.

DnB NOR Næringsmegling AS and Catella Corporate Finance AB (Stockholm) have been advisers for DnB NOR Bank and acted as brokers throughout the sales process. Sphere: Related Content