Private Equity Groups Gain 5.26% Stake in Volvo

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rivate equity groups Cevian Capital AB and Parvus Asset Management have formed a joint venture company to hold their separate stakes in Swedish truck maker Volvo AB, Bloomberg reported Friday.

he groups’ joint venture, Violet Partners, controls 8.34 million of Volvo’s class A shares, giving it a 5.26% voting stake and 2.06% of the company’s capital, Bloomberg said.

In September, Cevian co-chief Christer Gardell announced the fund had purchased a 5% stake in Volvo in an effort to win a seat on the committee that selects the company’s board members — a move that would put Gardell in a position to attempt a forced management restructuring, Bloomberg said. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Volvo chairman Finn Johnsson had blocked the firms' efforts to gain a seat on the company's election committee, insisting that their seperate shares could not be treated as a single holding, Bloomberg reported.

Gardell, who runs Cevian along with Lars Foerberg, told Bloomberg the Violet Partners partnership is the second-largest Volvo shareholder, in terms of voting rights.