Sweden's Kinnevik to hand out Millicom stake to shareholders (updated)
17/09/2019 13:38
(Adds detail, background, shares)
STOCKHOLM, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Investment company Kinnevik
KINVb.ST will hand out its 37.2% stake in telecoms operator
Millicom TIGOsdb.ST to shareholders as it presses on with its
strategy to increase its exposure to private Nordic companies.
Sweden's Kinnevik said in June it had dropped its plan to
exit its holding through a public offering, citing unfavourable
market conditions. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N23K0NS
The company will stop paying cash dividends and instead pay
out excess capital generated by its investment activities in the
form of extraordinary dividends, it said on Tuesday.
"After the distribution of our shareholding in Millicom, I
believe our shareholders will benefit from Kinnevik having a
higher share of its capital invested in the unlisted, leading
consumer businesses of tomorrow," CEO Georgi Ganev said in a
statement.
The company said it planned to propose the dividend to an
extraordinary shareholders' meeting in time for the distribution
to be carried out before the end of 2019.
Under Ganev, Kinnevik has been pursuing a strategy of
increasing its exposure to private Nordic companies. It is also
focusing on digital businesses such as Swedish telecoms company
Tele2 TEL2b.ST and online retailer Zalando ZALG.DE .
"Kinnevik's ambition is to be the go-to public company for
investors seeking exposure to the best entrepreneurs building
leading digital businesses in Europe, the Nordics and the U.S.,"
Ganev said.
Kinnevik shares fell 2.2% by 1155 GMT while the
Swedish-listed shares in Millicom, a cable and mobile operator
in Latin America and Africa, fell 4.1%.
(Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom and Helena Soderpalm; editing
by Niklas Pollard and Louise Heavens)
((johannes.hellstrom@thomsonreuters.com; +4687001008; Reuters
Messaging: johannes.hellstrom.reuters.com@reuters.net))