Iranian-born investor becomes Finnish Sampo PLC's third-largest owner
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Robert Tchenguiz, an Iranian-born investor living in Britain, has surprised the financial community by becoming one of the largest owners of the Finnish financial concern Sampo PLC. Tchenguiz’s Dutch-registered investment company Exafin now owns more than eight percent of Sampo. According to Friday’s closing figures, Exafin’s Sampo holding had risen in value to more than EUR 800 million.
Tchenguiz has amassed an extensive fortune through real estate deals along with his older brother Vincent. He also owns a chain of pubs, hotels, and cinemas.
On Thursday Exafin announced that its holding in Sampo had grown to 8.13 percent. On Friday, the Financial Times reported that Tchenguiz had previously held four percent of Sampo’s shares.
According to Finnish securities legislation, shareholders are required to announce publicly when ownership in a listed company exceeds the five percent level. Foreign and foreign-registered companies have the option to keep their Finnish shares in a special administrative registry; if they do so, the information is not made public.
Sampo’s biggest single stockholder is the Finnish state, with a holding of 13 percent. The work pension company Varma has an 8.6 percent holding, and Björn Wahlroos, Managing Director of Sampo PLC, has 2.1 percent of the company’s shares. Foreign owners have a total of 54 percent of Sampo stock.
The management of the concern did not want to comment on the matter on Friday. Communications director Hannu Vuola said that he only heard about Exafin on Thursday. Sampo speculated that Exafin had bought its new shares from the Icelandic Kaputhing Bank, which was believed to have had a holding of between three and four percent of Sampo stock.
Vuola said he has no knowledge of what intentions Tchenguiz might have concerning Sampo.
In the case of Sampo, the assessments of the company’s standing are often based on the fact that Wahlroos has a penchant for making surprising moves. For instance, in 2004 Sampo bought the largest Nordic accident insurance company If... for itself. This went against previous assumptions that Wahlroos was waiting for the right moment to give up its ownership in that company.
Bengt Dahlström, an analyst for the EQ banking house says that many corporate deals are expected this year. "Sampo is interesting, because it is involved in both banking and insurance."
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 3.4.2006 - TODAY |
 Iranian-born investor becomes Finnish Sampo PLC's third-largest owner
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