Kaupthing Bank Has Launched its First Canadian Maple Bond

(PRWEB) February 22, 2007

Kaupthing Bank (http://www.kaupthing.com) has priced and launched a CAD 500 million, 4.7% fixed rated Maple bond issue, maturing in February 2010. It represents Kaupthing Bank's inaugural Maple bond issue. The Bank offers comprehensive commercial and investment banking services to individuals, companies and institutional investors. The bank is the largest bank in Iceland and the eighth largest bank in the Nordic countries in terms of market capitalization.

Kaupthing Bank conducted a roadshow in Canada in January and following very strong and positive feedback from Canadian Maple bond investors decided to follow it up with a transaction. The issue was sold to a broad range of Canadian institutional investors with 17 accounts participating and was oversubscribed as the final order book reached CAD 700 million. Last year one of the main focuses within the bank was the diversification of its funding sources and this transaction is an important step towards diversifying the bank's investor base even further. The intention was to raise CAD 300 million but given the order book's size, quality and the funding level the bank decided to launch a benchmark issue in the Canadian market to satisfy demand.

Merrill Lynch Canada and TD Securities acted as joint lead managers and book runners on the transaction and HSBC Securities (Canada) Inc and RBC Capital Markets were co-managers.

About Kaupthing Bank

Kaupthing Bank offers comprehensive commercial and investment banking services to individuals, companies and institutional investors. The Bank is a leading player in all the main areas of the Icelandic financial market, and in addition to Iceland, the Bank's key markets are Denmark and the United Kingdom. The Bank focuses on the growth and development of its international activities and aims to be one of the leading investment banks in northern Europe.

Kaupthing Bank was formed by the merger of Kaupthing and Búnaðarbanki Íslands in 2003 and is the largest bank in Iceland. The bank operates in ten countries, including all the Nordic countries (Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Norway and Sweden), Luxembourg, Switzerland, the UK and the US. The bank is the eighth largest bank in the Nordic countries in terms of market capitalization.

In recent years, Kaupthing Bank has been one of the fastest growing financial groups in Europe. The Bank's expansion has been achieved through sound organic growth and a number of strategic acquisitions. The most recent acquisitions are those of FIH Erhvervsbank in Denmark in 2004 and in 2005 the UK bank Singer & Friedlander, now Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander. The aim of this growth is to further enhance the Bank's ability to provide comprehensive services to its client base in the UK, the Nordic countries (Scandinavia) and elsewhere in northern Europe.

As of 31 December 2006 the number of full-time equivalent positions was 2,719 at Kaupthing Bank and its subsidiaries.

For more information on Kaupthing Bank visit the Bank's website, http://www.kaupthing.com.

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