Alecta has started arbitration proceedings against real estate firm Heimstaden, it was announced today, with the pension fund saying actions taken by the firm had breached the terms of the Swedish pension fund’s part-ownership of residential firm Heimstaden Bostad.
The development is the latest effort by Sweden’s largest pension fund to recoup what it can from the high-profile bad investments that in 2023 sparked a crisis of confidence in the occupational pension provider and a management exodus.
Heimstaden, the listed Malmö-headquartered property firm majority-owned by Norwegian billionaire Ivar Tollefsen, announced this morning that Alecta had taken action against its subsidiary Heimstaden Investment.
The firm said: “Alecta argues that the establishment of Heim Global Investor AS by Fredensborg AS / Ivar Tollefsen, and the investments into its fund, competes with the business of Heimstaden Bostad AB (publ) and thus constitutes a breach of the shareholders’ agreement.”
The statement continued: “Heimstaden Investment AB disagrees, noting that Heimstaden Bostad AB (publ) is not active within the business of fund management and that the investment made by Heim Global Investor AS’s fund falls within the exemption to the non-compete undertaking in the shareholders’ agreement.”
Christian Fladeland, co-chief executive officer of Heimstaden, said it was unfortunate that it had not been possible to settle the matter amicably.
“Our ambition is, and has always been, to act in the best interest of Heimstaden Bostad and manage the joint investment to the benefit of all shareholders,” he said.
“We and our legal advisers are certain that we comply with all undertakings of the shareholders’ agreement and that the tribunal will conclude that we are not in breach of the shareholders agreement,” he said.
Jacob Lapidus, Alecta’s head of external communications and media relations, confirmed to IPE that Alecta had started the proceedings, and that it believed the establishment of, and investments in, Heim Global Investor and its funds constituted a breach of the shareholders’ agreement regarding Heimstaden Bostad.
“Alecta has an obligation to its savers to ensure the best possible long-term value development in Alecta’s investment in Heimstaden Bostad,” he said.
This meant Alecta was working to ensure that the existing shareholder agreement was complied with, he said, adding that the pension fund looked forward to having the matter examined by an arbitration board.
“Otherwise, our view remains that the shareholder agreement is unbalanced to Alecta’s disadvantage and we continue to work actively to find solutions to this,” Lapidus said.
Having invested around SEK50bn (€4.35bn) in Heimstaden Bostad, Alecta’s large minority stake in the firm was valued at SEK39.2bn at the end of June this year.
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