POLAND – Nordic financial group Nordea is to buy Sampo’s Polish pension and life companies for €95m.

“The acquisition will further enhance Nordea's platform for continued profitable growth in the Polish market,” it said. The deal encompasses Sampo PTE – the fifth largest fund in the country – and Sampo Life SA.

Nordea said Sampo PTE “operates within the fast growing individual compulsory pension market” – which it said is a new pension segment for it in Poland.

Nordea will gain 556,000 active pension savers with around €600m in assets under management.

"The compulsory pension system is one of the fastest growing segments of the long-term savings market in Poland with an expected growth rate of around 20% annually", said Allan Polack, Nordea’s head of life and pensions.

"It offers stable monthly savings flows into pension funds and it is without traditional guaranteed returns. In addition, Poland is expected to have stable GDP growth leading to increased welfare and subsequently a high demand for savings products.”

Sampo Life will be merged into Nordea's Polish life company, Nordea Zycie.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter following regulatory approval.