Related Stories: BAE, Britain/U.K., Europe - Other, Fighters & Attack, Mergers & Acquisitions, Other Corporation, Partnerships & Consortia
In 1998, with a global sales partnership in place for Saab’s JAS-39 Gripen fighter, BAE bought a 35% stake in Saab for 3.5 billion Swedish kronor. In March 2010, a month after BAE Systems settled bribery cases with the US and Britain over weapons sales that included Gripen fighters, Britain is divesting just over half of its remaining stake in the Swedish defense firm, for SEK 1.07 billion (about $150 million). Saab’s best-known product is its JAS-39 Gripen lightweight fighter, but the firm offers a diverse array of defense products that include radars, missiles, UUVs, and more.
BAE had already reduced its stake in Saab to 20.5% in 2005, and was not involved in recent efforts to sell the Gripen to Switzerland and Brazil. The firm reportedly intends to dispose of all Saab holdings…
the brakes on
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March 5/10: The 11.2 million Class B shares are sold to Investor AB, the Wallenberg family’s publicly traded holding company, at SEK 95.50 per share. The 10.2% share is half of BAE’s remaining 20.5% stake in Saab.
Following the sale, and some conversions of some Investors AB and all BAE stakes from Class A to Class B shares, Investor AB’s stake in Saab will change from 19.8% of the capital and 38% of the voting rights, to 30% of Saab and 39.5% of its voting rights. Investor AB Head of Corporate Communications, Oscar Stege Unger, reportedly had this to say:
”[Cooperation between BAE and Saab has] in practice ceased, in as much as Saab manages the Gripen exports itself. There has also been a degree of overlapping between BAE and Saab in larger deals…. Now BAE have decided that they do not see this as a strategic holding and want to pull out. We also think that it is good that we clarify the ownership structure.”
The March 4/10 closing price for Saab amounted to SEK 106.00 per share, so Investor AB is presumably happy already. Note that Saab Group is not the same as the car-maker being sold by GM. Investor AB | BAE Systems | Sweden’s The Local | UK’s Times | UK’s Telegraph | Bloomberg | Defense News.
