STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 29, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- On 11 February Skandia entered into an agreement with Sampo plc ("Sampo") on the sale of Skandia's 19.36% stake in If P&C Insurance Ltd. to Sampo. As part of the transaction, Sampo will also acquire Skandia Liv's 10.06% stake and Storebrand Asa's ("Storebrand") 22.47% stake in If. The transaction was conditional upon customary regulatory approvals.
The terms of the agreements have now been fulfilled, and the transaction will be carried out in about a week. The agreement between Sampo and Skandia contains no guarantees or commitments from Skandia with respect to If.
The net sales price of SEK 4.5 billion will be paid in cash. The shareholding in If was valued as per 31 December 2003 in accordance with applicable accounting rules at the same amount, which entailed an increase in the result for the fourth quarter 2003 by SEK 1.5 billion. The execution of the transaction will not have any further result impact in 2004.
Financial reporting
Skandia will release its first quarter results on 26 May 2004. Since market statistics will be available prior to this, Skandia has decided to release the group's sales figures on 5 May.
For further information, please contact: Harry Vos, Head of Investor Relations tel. +46-8-788 36 43
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