SWEDEN – The SEK190.6bn (€20.5bn) Second Swedish National Pension Fund/AP2 is at odds with the management of Electrolux over the consumer products company’s plans to spin off outdoor power unit Husqvarna.

The company announced in February last year that the division would be spun off as a separate unit.

It proposes a vote the distribution of all shares in Husqvarna to shareholders at its annual general meeting on April 24. It wants Husqvarna to have the same mix of A and B-class shares as Electrolux.

But AP2, which is the company’s third-largest shareholder with a 3.6% stake, reckons the plan is unfair. It is advocating a single class of share.

AP2’s says its corporate governance policy endorses the principle of “one share – one vote” which also serves as a guiding principle when spinning off a subsidiary. Its corporate governance chief Carl Rosen sits on Electrolux’s nomination committee.

“Other Swedish and foreign investors have expressed great interest in this issue, and we are counting on considerable support at the annual general meeting,” said AP2 chief executive Eva Halvarsson.

“The board of directors does not support the proposal by the Second Swedish National Pension Fund and has issued a statement regarding it,” Electrolux says.

AP2, which unsuccessfully led shareholder opposition to Old Mutual’s takeover of Skandia, was most recently in the news with the ousting of chief investment officer Petter Odhnoff.

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