Swedish auto safety systems maker Autoliv Inc. said May 24 that its board approved the completion of the spinoff of its electronics division Veoneer Inc. into an independently traded company.
Autoliv said the spinoff will be completed June 29 and Veoneer will start trading July 2. Veoneer stock will be distributed June 29 and will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VNE and on Nasdaq Stockholm under the symbol VNE SDB on July 2. Autoliv will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ALV and on Nasdaq Stockholm under the symbol ALIV SDB.
The company also announced an agreement with Swiss investment firm Cevian Capital AB regarding its ownership in Autoliv and Veoneer. Cevian owns 9.6% of outstanding shares of Autoliv.
The company's board expects Mary Cummings, Mark Durcan, and Jonas Synnergren to join Veoneer's board after the spinoff. Cummings is a professor at the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering and the Duke Institute of Brain Sciences, as well as the director of the Humans and Autonomy Laboratory and Duke Robotic. Durcan is the former CEO of Micron Technology, and Synnergren is a partner at Cevian Capital and head of Cevian's Swedish office.
The auto parts maker entered into an $800 million bridge facility agreement with J.P. Morgan Securities PLC and SEB in connection with the spinoff and to support its intended cash injection into Veoneer. The facility has a six-month maturity, which can be extended for additional six months, subject to the bank's approval. J.P. Morgan and SEB are the coordinators and book runners.
The board also approved certain amendments to the agreements governing a majority of its outstanding long-term debt securities issued by its subsidiary Autoliv ASP to get the consent to spin off from the holders of a majority of these securities.
In addition, Autoliv said it will report its electronics business as discontinued operations for the second quarter of 2018 and plans to release its second-quarter results July 27.
