SCA sells stake in top owner Industrivarden

L E Lundbergforetagen AB (publ)

03/11/2015 09:04

STOCKHOLM, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Swedish forestry and hygiene 
products company SCA  SCAb.ST  said on Tuesday it had sold its 
entire stake in its biggest owner and one of Sweden's most 
influential investment companies,  Industrivarden  INDUa.ST . 
    SCA said in a statement it had sold its entire holding in 
Industrivarden of 4.3 percent of votes and 2.8 percent of 
capital to Swedish institutions and investors for 169 crowns per 
share, equalling 2 billion Swedish crowns ($234 million).   
    "We have had these shares for quite some time and we thought 
this was a suitable time to sell them," SCA Chief Executive      
Magnus Groth told Reuters. 
    "We are not an investment company and it is not part of our 
core business to invest in other companies." 
    The Industrivarden sphere of companies, which includes Volvo 
 VOLVb.ST , Ericsson  ERICb.ST , Sandvik  SAND.ST  and 
Handelsbanken  SHBa.ST , is partly linked through 
cross-ownership which has been criticised by some Swedish 
pension funds for creating an opaque structure.  
    The sale unwinds one of these links. SCA's pension funds 
retain their ownership in Industrivarden of in total 7.9 percent 
of shares. 
    A spending scandal early this year centred around SCA 
resulted in a revamp of several boards within the Industrivarden 
sphere and the resignation of both Industrivarden's chairman and 
Groth's predecessor at the helm of SCA. 
     Business magnate Fredrik Lundberg took over as chairman of 
Industrivarden in the wake of the controversy and his holding 
company, Lundbergforetagen  LUNDb.ST , said separately it had 
purchased 5 million A shares in Industrivarden. 
 
($1 = 8.5311 Swedish crowns) 
 
 (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Johan Ahlander; editing by 
Niklas Pollard and Sven Nordenstam) 
 ((anna.ringstrom@thomsonreuters.com; +46 8 700 1134; Reuters 
Messaging: 
anna.ringstrom.thomsonreuters.com@thomsonreuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SCA INDUSTRIVARDEN/CELLULOSA SCA