Sweden’s third largest pension provider AMF announced it is investing SEK200m (€20m) in Swedish electric motorcycle manufacturer Cake, snapping up 10% of the shares in the young company.
The SEK800bn blue-collar pension fund said the move came as part of its strategy to grow its portfolio of unlisted investments, adding that it was well positioned to do this, due to its “financial strength and long-term investment horizon.”
Tomas Flodén, head of asset management at AMF, said: “We currently have around SEK15bn invested in unlisted companies, and are happy about the opportunity to be able to join another innovative and growth-orientated Swedish company.”
Cake said AMF had been the anchor investor in a financing round aimed at accelerating the company’s growth, adding that it was setting up manufacturing facilities in Europe, North America and Asia “for sustainability and efficiency reasons.”
Patricia Hedelius, asset manager at AMF, said the firm appreciated the opportunity to be involved at this early stage in what she described as one of Sweden’s most interesting companies in electrification.
“The drive and forward-thinking spirit of Cake impresses, as does the offensive ambition to grow rapidly and offer sustainable transport,” she said.
AMF said the market for environmentally-friendly vehicles was driven by increased climate awareness and tougher regulations, adding that Cake had recently announced its intention to open a factory south of Stockholm, moving production from Taiwan.
In the wake of the pandemic, the pension fund has been increasing the proportion of unlisted assets in its portfolio for some time, announcing in July that its 8.5% H1 return would help it continue this.
Two months later, AMF invested SEK200m in the new high-tech ABBA show being developed as part of a comeback for the Swedish pop group.
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