Polhem Infra, the infrastructure investment company set up in April by three of Sweden’s AP national pension funds, has announced its first investment.
The Stockholm-based firm - co-owned by AP1, AP3 and AP4 - said it has acquired 21.5% of the shares in Solör Bioenergi Holding, a privately owned Swedish energy firm focussed on bio-fired district heating.
Solör Bioenergi said Polhem had bought the shares from existing shareholders, with 10% coming from the majority shareholder BE Bio Energy Group and 11.45% from shareholders Arvin Meritor, Sunrise, YRC and J&J.
However, the energy firm added that the parties to the deal had agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Solör Bioenergi delivers around 2.5 TWh of energy annually, has some 8,800 customers and the equivalent of 156,500 users, the company said.
Mikael Lundin, Polhem Infra’s chief executive, said: “This investment is fully in line with Polhem Infra’s strategy where we will make investments in infrastructure with a focus on sustainability to meet the long-term needs of society.
“Our goal is to contribute to Solör’s continued development with a focus on strengthening the company’s position as a responsible supplier of renewable energy to its customers,” he said.
Polhem said that since the beginning of 2010, Solör had created a geographically well-diversified business and also contributed to the consolidation of the Swedish small-scale district heating market.
The investment in Solör gave Polhem Infra access to an important part of the Swedish energy market where district heating - a service that was both necessary to the community and had a clear environmental profile - played a natural role.
