SKF AB Acquires Majority Stake In SKF India Ltd.

SKF AB (Sweden) has raised its ownership stake in SKF India Ltd. (a publicly-traded subsidiary) from 46.31% to 53.58% by exercising warrants for 3,832,790 shares. On December 31, 2001, SKF India issued 754,280 9% non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to shareholders. For every 100 shares owned, shareholders received 3 NCDs. Each NCD had a detachable warrant, an option to buy 10 shares on December 31, 2004. The price would be set at the director's meeting in July 2004, a 25% discount to the open-market share price. The debentures were issued as part of SKF India's effort to restructure and refinance operations. SKF India pursues funding and refinancing Of the 754,280 NCDs issued, SKF and its subsidiaries received 383,279, the warrants redeemable for 3,832,790 shares in SKF India Ltd. In July, SKF set the warrant exercise price at Rs 64, and by late December, shares traded at close to double the exercise price. SKF and its subsidiaries exercised warrants for all 3,832,790 shares. As a result, corporate ownership of SKF India Ltd. rose from 46.31% to 53.58%. eBearing and most other coverage has commonly reported SKF India as 54% owned by parent SKF AB, but that 54% ownership is misleading -- the figure included both shares owned by the company directly and shares owned by executive officers. As a corporate entity alone, SKF AB owned 46.31%. Three separate SKF operations -- SKF AB, SKF UK Ltd., and Aktiebolaget SA des Roulements -- contributed to fund the warrant exercise. SKF did not comment on the transaction or what impact its majority ownership would have on the Indian operation. SKF is the largest bearing manufacturer in India, with an overall 29% market share across OEM and replacement sales. The move follows other recent efforts by SKF to clear up its operations and financial situation. In mid-December 2004, SKF announced it was delisting from the London stock exchange later this month. At the same time, SKF said it will begin reporting its financial results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in first quarter 2005. SKF joins over 7,000 publicly traded EU companies required to file under IFRS rules in 2005, a step leading to convergence of U.S. FASB and IFRS standards by 2008.