SWEDEN – Swedish buffer fund AP3 is to acquire the 50% it does not own of Hemsö, a joint venture set up to invest in Swedish social infrastructure.

Joint-venture partner Kungsleden, which counts the second and fourth Swedish buffer funds among its shareholders, will receive SEK3.3bn (€380m) – comprising shares worth SEK1.8bn and SEK1.5bn as repayment of an earlier shareholder loan.

A spokeswoman for AP3 said the price was in line with book value with an adjustment for deferred taxes and a minor premium.

She said the SEK222.3bn pension fund had decided to acquire the shares further to diversify a portfolio dominated by equities and fixed income.

Eventual acquisition had not been part of the plan when the two partners set up the joint venture in 2009, but Kungsleden earlier this year announced that it would retrench its investments in Sweden's economic growth areas.

"It was an opportunity that came up," said the AP3 spokeswoman.

As part of the deal, Kungsleden will acquire 15 commercial properties from Hemsö's 350-asset portfolio, which includes schools and healthcare facilities, and assets leased to the judicial system and public agencies.

The company last year also acquired a €144m, 17-asset portfolio of elderly care homes in Germany.

The assets to be sold to Kungsleden for SEK1.6bn represented all those within the portfolio reflecting the company's commercial focus. 

The spokeswoman said the assets – less social infrastructure than "office properties with public sector tenants" – were not part of Hemsö's core business.

The acquisition is scheduled for completion in Q1 2013, subject to competition authority approval.

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