Handelsbanken sells its shares in UC

Handelsbanken is selling its shareholding in the credit information agency UC AB to Asiakastieto Group Plc, which is a listed credit information company in Finland. This is a consequence of Asiakastieto entering into an agreement with all owners to acquire UC for some SEK 3,5 billion [1].

Handelsbanken owns 24.5 per cent of the shares in UC and, like other Swedish banks which are shareholders of UC, is a major supplier of credit information to UC.

One of the results of the merger of Asiakastieto and UC is that the merged company will have a stronger market position in Sweden and Finland. Together they will form a leading Nordic company in the area of business and credit information with the opportunity of achieving cost-effective, shared market coverage throughout the Nordic countries. The new Group is listed on NASDAQ in Helsinki.

This transaction also means that Handelsbanken will receive 2,161,178 shares in Asiakastieto, corresponding to some 9 per cent of the shares in the company and EUR 24.2 million in cash. Like the other owners, Handelsbanken will continue to have a special influence on the board of UC, in terms of processing of customer databases and customer data. This means that Handelsbanken will take responsibility for ensuring that credit information and customer data continue to be processed in a correct manner.

The sale is expected to generate a tax-free capital gain of some SEK 825 million [1] for Handelsbanken, which is expected to be reported in the Bank’s financial results for the second quarter of 2018.

The transaction means that the Bank’s common equity tier 1 ratio is estimated to increase by 0.1 percentage point.

The acquisition of UC and the sale of the shares is conditional on approval from the relevant competition authorities.


For further information, please contact:
Lars Höglund, Head of Investor Relations, +46 8–701 51 70, +46 70–345 51 70
Katarina Grönwall, Chief Communications Officer, +46 8 701 12053, +46 72–203 32 63
Johan Wallqvist, Head of Group Media Relations, +46 8–701 80 47, +46 72–206 34 50

For more information about Handelsbanken, see: www.handelsbanken.com  

[1] Based on current share prices and exchange rates