U.S. Fund Ripplewood Takes On Nordic Banks in Latvia Buy
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U.S. private-equity fund Ripplewood Holdings LLC is targeting a growing piece of Latvia’s banking industry, where Nordic lenders dominate.
A group of investors led by the New York-based fund yesterday agreed to buy the Latvian government’s 75 percent stake in Citadele Banka AS, the Baltic nation’s fifth-biggest lender by deposits, for an undisclosed price. That puts it into competition with the likes of Swedbank AB and SEB AB. Nordic lenders control about half of Latvian banking assets, according to the national banking association.