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STOCKHOLM, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Sweden’s Hexagon
said on Wednesday that it will recruit more independent board
members and further distance its business from Greenbridge, a
private investment company controlled by key insiders at the
industrial technology group.
The steps follow criticism from short seller Viceroy
Research which said on July 19 that Greenbridge and its owners
benefited unfairly by front-running Hexagon’s investments, a
claim both companies have rejected.
Viceroy has focused on an investment in manufacturing
company Divergent, claiming that Greenbridge was able to secure
a stake ahead of Hexagon. Greenbridge said its stake was in fact
bought months later.
Hexagon board Chair Ola Rollen owns 19% of Greenbridge, as
does billionaire Hexagon shareholder Melker Schorling’s holding
company, while three executives of the listed group also hold
smaller Greenbridge stakes, according to Hexagon.
“We believe that Hexagon secured maximum value in its
investment in Divergent,” Hexagon said in a detailed 16-page
reply on Wednesday to Viceroy’s claims.
But to remove “any future doubt” about the independence of
Greenbridge and Hexagon, the two companies have now signed an
agreement to keep future investments separate, Hexagon said.
In Wednesday’s statement, it quoted an agreement saying:
“Greenbridge hereby undertakes in relation to Hexagon not to
hereinafter invest in any company, business, or asset where
Hexagon, already prior to such investment, has an ownership or
other financial or economic interest.”
Viceroy said in a response issued to Reuters by Fraser
Perring, one of its founders, that it considered Hexagon’s
statement on Wednesday to be an admission that the company and
Greenbridge were considered related parties.
Viceroy, a U.S-based activist short seller, which has in the
past targeted other Swedish companies such as SBB and
Truecaller, has also criticised Hexagon’s accounting
and acquisition history as well as its corporate governance.
Hexagon said on Wednesday that Viceroy’s claims were full of
“demonstrable factual inaccuracies, incorrect assumptions, and
unfounded speculation”.
In a separate statement, Hexagon said on Wednesday that CEO
Paolo Guglielmini had bought one million shares from top
shareholder Schorling for 101 million Swedish crowns ($9.5
million).
Hexagon’s shares were up more than 2% at 1107 GMT.
Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Johan Eliason said the share price
rise was due to the CEO’s investment and Hexagon’s statement
regarding the claims made by Viceroy.
“What I think is good is that they’ve taken actions to
minimise risk going forward,” the analyst said.
($1 = 10.6465 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Marie Mannes and Nell Mackenzie; Additional
reporting by Agata Rybska; Editing by Terje Solsvik and
Alexander Smith)
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