BAE to offload half of Saab stake to investor

London: BAE Systems Plc, Europe's biggest defence contractor, agreed to sell half of its 20.5 per cent stake in Saab AB, the Swedish maker of the Gripen fighter plane, to Investor AB and said it plans to sell the rest later.

Investor AB, the Wallenberg family's publicly traded holding company, will buy the shares for 1.07 billion Swedish crowns (Dh548 million), in a deal which will convert all BAE's voting A-shares into non-voting B-shares, London-based BAE said yesterday in a statement.

Following the sale, Investor AB will own 30 per cent of Saab and 39.5 per cent of its voting rights after converting some of its own voting shares, it said in a separate statement. The Wallenbergs are Sweden's preeminent industrial family, with stakes in companies that include Atlas Copco AB, Ericsson AB and the SEB AB.

"BAE Systems has been a good partner for Saab AB, but over time there has been less alignment of interests and the emergence of some overlapping businesses," Investor AB CEO Boerje Ekholm said in the statement.

BAE bought 35 per cent of Saab in 1998 for 3.5 billion crowns. The companies were already partners in selling the Gripen.

Saab AB is separate from Saab Automobile AB, which was sold by General Motors Corp. earlier this year to Spyker Cars NV. BAE said it will sell its remaining holding in Saab through a market placing "in due course."