Geely swoops on stake in Saxo Bank

Zhejiang carmaker Geely Holding said it will buy up to 30 percent in Saxo Bank, the Danish investment bank specializing in online trading and investments, to tap into the Scandinavian and international financial services market.

The acquisition will make Geely another Chinese group to hold the most shares in a European financial services provider, after Chinese conglomerate HNA Group last week became the top shareholder in Germany's Deutsche Bank by raising its holding to 9.92 percent.

An announcement from Copenhagen-headquartered Saxo said on Friday that co-founder Lars Seier Christensen agreed to sell his 25.71 percent stake to Geely International Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.