Reference is made to the stock exchange notice dated 5 December 2023 stating
that the General Meeting in SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA and the Supervisory Board in
SpareBank 1 Sørøst-Norge have approved the merger of the two banks, as well as
the notice dated 17 April 2024 stating that the Norwegian Competition Authority
has cleared the transaction.

On 20 June 2024, the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet)
granted the necessary permits to carry out the merger between SpareBank 1
SR-Bank ASA and SpareBank 1 Sørøst-Norge in accordance with the decisions made
by the banks' General Meeting/Supervisory Board on 5 December 2023. 

The permits were granted on certain conditions, including the following: 
(i)	Sparebankstiftelsen SR-Bank, SpareBank 1 Stiftelsen BV, and
Sparebankstiftelsen Telemark must at all times have a combined ownership stake
in the merged bank that is equal to or higher than 33.4 percent of the share
capital and voting rights in the bank. 
(ii)	The merged bank (SpareBank 1 Sør-Norge ASA) will continue its savings bank
operations with local presence in Telemark, Vestfold, Buskerud, and Rogaland.
(iii)	After the merger, and until the Financial Supervisory Authority has
determined new pillar 2 requirements, the merged bank (SpareBank 1 Sør-Norge
ASA) will have an increased capital requirement (pillar 2 requirement) of 1.9
percentage points of the consolidated risk weighted assets according to the
Financial Institutions Act § 14-2, in addition to the temporary surcharge of 0.5
percentage points for the IRB portfolio of SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA. The merged
bank (SpareBank 1 Sør-Norge ASA) will have a capital requirement margin of 1.25
percent.

Certain additional conditions were also imposed. 

Of the authority approvals, tax relief from the Ministry of Finance and final
approval from the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority of the necessary
changes to the articles of association of the owner foundations remain.
The planned implementation date is still 1 October 2024.

Contact persons: 
SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA 
CEO: Benedicte Schilbred Fasmer, tel. +47 950 60 034
CFO: Inge Reinertsen, tel. +47 909 95 033 
Financial director: Morten Forgaard, tel. +47 916 21 425


SpareBank 1 Sørøst-Norge 
CEO: Per Halvorsen, tel. +47 934 07 441 
CFO: Roar Snippen, tel. +47 976 10 360
Head of treasury: Mona Storbrua, tel. +47 916 39 833

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© Oslo Bors ASA, source Oslo Stock Exchange