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Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank hf. (Icelandic: Straumur-Burðarás Fjárfestingabanki, usually referred to simply as Straumur) (OMX: STRB) is a pan-regional investment bank headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Straumur is Iceland‘s largest pure investment bank and the sixth-largest company on the OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland. Through organic growth and strategic acquisitions, Straumur has an established presence in ten countries including the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic.
Straumur has a market capitalisation of €1.71 billion, total assets of €7.14 billion at the end of 2007 and a long-term investment rating of BBB- from Fitch. [2] A broad footprint enables the bank to balance strong profitable growth with geographical and operational diversity.
History
Straumur was founded in October 1986 as the Equity Fund (Hlutabréfasjóðurinn hf.) – an incentive for individuals in Iceland to invest in shares – and by 2001 it had become an investment company.
Over the next few years, the fund grew rapidly and was merged with a number of other Icelandic investment funds. In 2004, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority approved Straumur's application for a license to operate as a credit undertaking and three more sources of income – brokerage, debt finance and corporate finance – were added to create a more regular flow of income.
In September 2005, Straumur merged with Burdarás creating Iceland’s largest investment bank. The newly merged organisation had a stronger balance sheet and shareholder base and was well positioned to start expanding its activities beyond Iceland.
Strategic acquisitions
July 2006 – Straumur acquired 50.01% share of Stamford Partners, a specialist investment banking firm with operations in London and Amsterdam.
May 2007 – Straumur acquired 62% share in eQ Bank, a Finnish bank specialising in brokerage, asset management and corporate finance.
June 2007 – Straumur acquired 50% share in WOOD & Company, the leading independent investment house in Central and Eastern Europe.
July 2007 – As a result of a public tender offer, Straumur now controls over 95% of shares in eQ.[3]
See also
Sources
References
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