SEB Kort Bank AB, a leading corporate payment solutions provider in the Nordics and wholly owned subsidiary of SEB Group, has entered into an agreement with Lufthansa Group to acquire all shares in Lufthansa AirPlus Servicekarten GmbH, a leading provider within corporate payment services.

Together, SEB Kort and AirPlus will become a European leader in corporate payment solutions. For a cash purchase price of EUR 450 million, the transaction will provide SEB Kort with additional scale, a strong footprint for further growth in Europe, and a modern IT platform.

Furthermore, the transaction is expected to result in synergies and complements SEB Group’s broader corporate banking ambitions in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and Northern Europe.

AirPlus is a leading provider of corporate payment services, offering company accounts, virtual cards and corporate cards to a diversified base of about 53,000 corporate customers. Today, AirPlus has approximately 1,100 employees serving customers across five continents. The company has a leading global position, with a particularly strong footprint in the DACH region and Europe, where it generates most of its revenue. AirPlus is now operating on a modern IT platform after having made significant investments in its IT transformation for several years. AirPlus’ total revenues amounted to about EUR 231 million in 2022.

SEB Kort is a wholly owned subsidiary of SEB Group and part of the bank’s division Corporate & Private Customers, and has about 600 employees. SEB Kort is a leading provider of corporate payment solutions in the Nordics, such as corporate cards, company accounts and co-branding. It also provides payment and financing solutions and other related services to both private individuals and corporate customers in the Nordic region. SEB Kort’s leading position has over time been created both through organic growth and selective acquisitions. SEB Kort’s total income amounted to about SEK 2.2 billion in 2022.

The cash purchase price for the acquisition is EUR 450 million and it is expected to affect SEB’s CET1 ratio negatively by approximately 35-40 basis points at closing. Income, funding and cost synergies are expected to enhance return on equity in the medium term for SEB Group. The transaction is expected to be EPS accretive year 1 excluding implementation costs and EPS accretive year 2 including implementation costs.

The closing of the transaction is currently expected to occur during the first half of 2024. The completion of the transaction is, among other things, conditional upon closing conditions and regulatory approvals.