COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Danske Bank’s (DANSKE.CO) pension unit Danica has divested the Swedish part of its business to a private equity consortium for around 2.6 billion Swedish crowns ($288 million), the lender said on Tuesday.

The consortium is led by Nordic private equity fund Polaris and German private equity fund Acathia. Institutional investors Sampension and Unigestion are also part of the consortium.

Around 2.35 billion crowns is a cash payment and the remainder is in the form of a debt instrument from the seller, the bank said.

“The sale does not affect Danske Bank’s growth strategy in the Nordic markets,” said Jacob Aarup-Andersen, the head of the bank’s wealth management activities said.

Danske Bank has been embroiled in a major money laundering scandal linked to its Estonian branch.

The divested unit has 60 employees, 150,000 personal customers and 15,000 business customers. The deal needs to be approved by authorities and is expected to close in the first half of next year.

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