SWEDEN - AP6, the private equity-focused Swedish buffer fund, has written down the value of its unlisted investments by SEK1.5bn (€164m) following a review of its holdings.

The scheme said it had been forced to write down some of its unlisted investments following the review initiated in the spring.

It said the devaluation affected direct holdings in unlisted companies, especially those with "ongoing" capital-injection needs.

Marianne Dicander Alexandersson, appointed chief executive late last year following the departure of Erling Gustafsson, said the arrival of new board members prompted the review.

"The review was made when the new board and new management deemed it necessary to make a current valuation of the assets in the portfolio," she said. "It is important to emphasise that the writedown does not mean realised losses."

A spokesman for AP6 explained that, although the review was launched in the spring, it took into account the impact of market volatility in August.

"That was not the major cause for this writedown, but, of course, it would have been illogical to not take it into consideration," he said.

The buffer fund earlier this year wrote down its SEK570m investment in Terrestrial Broadcasting Investments (TBI) to zero, after the board deemed any further investment too great a risk.

TBI was a Swedish-backed project to develop digital terrestrial television in Ghana.

Including its 78% stake in TBI, the scheme said it has written down SEK2bn worth of investments this year, accounting for 10% of scheme assets at the end of December.

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