Kinnevik's startup bets push up net asset value (updated)
12/07/2021 08:18
(Adds details on investments, CEO comments)
By Supantha Mukherjee
STOCKHOLM, July 12 (Reuters) - Sweden's Kinnevik KINVb.ST ,
one of Europe's largest listed investment firms, on Monday
reported an 11% rise in second-quarter net asset value from the
prior quarter helped by its investments in companies such as
Pleo and Budbee.
Net asset value, which excluded Zalando's valuation of 54.1
billion Swedish crowns ($6.32 billion), grew by 12.6 billion
crowns to 76.2 billion from the previous quarter.
Earlier this year it announced https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kinnevik-dividend-zalando-idUSKBN2AH0VN
plans to distribute its stake in German online fashion group
Zalando ZALG.DE to its shareholders.
The company, which counts influential Swedish Stenbeck
family and Scottish asset manager Baillie Gifford among its
shareholders, said it had invested 734 million crowns in four
companies in the quarter. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGNE7N5TYY
"We are not obliged to deploy capital from one quarter to
another or from one year to another, but it's actually when the
opportunities arise," Chief Executive Officer Georgi Ganev told
Reuters.
"Two years ago we deployed around 4.6 billion crowns and
deployed two and a half last year, and this year will be
somewhere in the middle of that range."
On Monday, Kinnevik said it had invested 49 million euros in
a 210-million-euro funding round in Nordic "neo-bank" Lunar.
Kinnevik's shares have more than doubled in the last one
year as its focus on digital businesses led to many of its
holdings rising rapidly in the midst of the pandemic.
While the Swedish firm's investments range from telecom
operator Tele2 TEL2b.ST to delivery startup Budbee, it has
deepened its focus on the healthcare industry with investments
in companies such as Teladoc and Babylon.
"We have generated more than 25 billion crowns out of the
healthcare portfolio, and we are continuing that journey with
new investments within the healthcare sector," Ganev said.
($1 = 8.5638 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; editing by
Niklas Pollard)
((supantha.mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; +46 70 721 1004;
Reuters Messaging:
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