Volvo Car Corporation acquired the Sixth Swedish National Pension Fund shares in Volvofinans Bank AB. Volvo Car Corporation and the sixth AP Fund signed an agreement on December 28th 2015 to acquire the Fund’s 40% stake in Volvofinans Bank AB (“Volvofinans”), the leading bank in Sweden in car financing.
All regulatory approvals were obtained on August 4th 2016. With this acquisition, worth 1.8 billion SEK, Volvofinans is now owned 50% by Volvo Cars and 50% by the Swedish authorized retailers through the company AB Volverkinvest.
“Volvofinans is an important part of the overall offer to Volvo Cars’ customers in Sweden, together with among others the authorized retailers, Volvia insurance, Hertz car rental and Sunfleet car sharing. We see that our customers are not only interested in the actual car purchase but the whole car ownership experience, of which financing is an important corner stone. Through this acquisition, we show a long-term commitment to Volvofinans,” says Håkan Samuelsson, President, and CEO of Volvo Cars.
“The acquisition means that Volvofinans will continue to offer attractive finance solutions, both to private and corporate customers. This shared, equal ownership with the Swedish retailers enables us to secure both parties equal influence in the Volvofinans business,” says Kristian Elvefors, Managing Director of Volvo Car Sweden, the Swedish sales company.
“Volvo Cars’ brand essence ‘Designed around you’ has also been a strong driving force for Volvo Cars Financial Services in pursuing customer and retailer simplicity and convenience at purchase and during the ownership of a Volvo car. The acquisition of 40% in Volvofinans and a close and integrated partnership with the Volvo retailers in Sweden has been an important step in that strategy.”
“Together with the Volvofinans joint venture, a unique set-up in the USA with VCFS US LLC and the joint ventures in Germany for car finance (VCFS Germany GmbH) and insurance (VCIS Germany GmbH) secure us a further growth in key strategic markets,” says Pascal Bellemans, Vice President Volvo Car Financial Services.
