SWEDEN – Sweden’s buffer fund AP1 is expected to see profits of over SEK240m (€28.6m) from the proposed sale of telecoms company Tele2’s Russian business.
Tele2, the European telecoms company, is selling its Russian operations to VTB Group in a cash transaction worth $2.4bn (€1.8bn) in equity and $1.1bn in net debt.
After completion of the transaction the board of Tele2 proposes to distribute SEK12.5bn, equivalent to SEK 28 per share, to shareholders as redemption for shares. If the proposal were to be accepted by the SEK234bn AP1 – which at year-end owned over 8 million shares in Tele2 with a market value of SEK980bn – the fund could gain SEK224m from the sale.
Tele2 AB was advised by Morgan Stanley as financial adviser and Davis Polk and Mannheimer Swartling as legal and regulatory advisers.
The agreement is subject to the relevant regulatory approval.
In other news, PP Pension, the pension and insurance provider for the media industry, retuned 5.3% for the full year 2012, with all asset classes showing positive returns.
For the first time in its history, assets under management at the provider surpassed SEK10bn in 2012. Since 2009, PP Pension has been managing and administering the defined contribution (DC) portion of the media industry’s assets as well.
However, a new pension agreement signed last autumn, will end current arrangement. Instead the fund’s DC portion will be administered by Collectum, the general administrator for white-collar occupational pensions, from January next year.
PP Pension also offers fund products and will as a result of the changes focus even more on individual insurance products.
The changes have led to the resignation of chief executive Viveka Ekberg, with her deputy Helene Nilsson assuminh her role on an interim basis. The provider’s board said it would continue to look for a permanent replacement.
No comments yet