Den norske Bank (DnB), the Norwegian investment bank, may be thwarted in its attempt to take over a rival bank for the second time in six months if Nordlandsbanken launches a Nok500m (€69m) share offer.

Last July DnB tried to buy another Norwegian financial institution Storebrand. The deal was abandoned less than two months after the banks revealed they were in talks. It was the second time a deal had failed to materialise between the two parties as DnB also tried to take over Storebrand in 2001 when Storebrand was attempting to combine with Sampo of Finland.