SKF to spin off automotive unit, list it on Nasdaq Stockholm
Plans to spin off automotive company on Stockholm exchange in 2026
Will retain higher-margin industrial business
Split supported by two of its major shareholders
Adds context and analyst comments from paragraph 2
By Elviira Luoma and Marie Mannes
STOCKHOLM, Sept 17 (Reuters) -Sweden's SKF SKFb.ST plans to split into two separate companies by spinning off its automotive business with a separate stock market listing, with the potential to improve margins for both operations.
The plan sent SKF shares as much as 7% higher. SKF's automotive business has long struggled to achieve the margins expected and has undergone several restructuring efforts without a marked performance improvement.
Its higher-margin industrial business, which accounts for roughly 70% of its sales, have as a result also suffered.
However, talks around spinning off the business, which accounts for the remaining 30% of sales, has not been on the cards for some time and the decision was a surprise for the market, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Sebastian Kuenne.
"Both businesses are global leaders in their respective fields and will through a clearer focus increase customer value and leverage on their strategies as standalone companies," SKF Chair Hans Straberg said in the statement.
The aim is to distribute shares in the automotive unit to SKF's owners and to list the new company on Nasdaq Stockholm during the first half of 2026, it added.
Kuenne confirmed that the market had pushed for such a move for some time.
"SKF did not deliver on its promise to structurally improve the margin in the Automotive business and it diluted the group's performance," he said.
"It absorbed much of the management capacity, when time should have been spent on the high-margin Industrial business," Kuenne added.
The two largest investors of SKF, whose bearings are found in products such as cars and wind turbines, both put out statements stating they supported the decision.
Sweden's Wallenberg-backed FAM with a 15% stake, said it planned for both companies to be strategic holdings following the separation.
Activist investor Cevian with a near 8% stake, said it expected a focused automotive company to deliver at least a 10% operating margin with the remaining industrial-focused SKF to achieve a margin close to 20%.
Cevian, which emerged as a large shareholder in SKF in 2022, is an activist investor known for pushing for change at firms they take in positions at such as Swiss-Swedish conglomerate ABB and Irish cement maker CRH.
($1 = 10.1533 Swedish crowns)
Reporting by Terje Solsvik, Elviira Luoma and Marie Mannes, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Keith Weir
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