The third largest bank in terms of customers in Finland, S-Pankki Oy, has entered into an agreement to purchase Tapiola Bank Oy. The purchase is in line with its expansion plans as well as providing S-Pankki Oy access to mortgage and insurance products.

The newly established bank would open its doors to transactions by 2014. The S-Group would retain 75% of the shares in the bank while LaehiTapiola Group would hold the other 25%. The said transaction was confirmed by S-Pankki from its Helsinki headquarters, but the two banks did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.

With the new bank, stiff competition would be made on other banks such as cooperative OP-Pohjila Group as well as the biggest bank in Finland, S-Pankki. S-Pankki is owned by the S-Group cooperative and accounts for half of all Finland's residents as its clients. Just last week, S-Group acquired FIM Group Oyi, providing access for its customers to investment funds and other instruments. One of the end goals of the cooperative is to operate FIM and Tapiola investment funds under the aegis of FIM Asset Management Oy.