ERIC Ericsson

By Dominic Chopping

STOCKHOLM--Svenska Handelsbanken AB (SHB-B.SK), one of the Nordic region's largest lenders, said Thursday it has sold its entire 10.3% voting stake in investment-holding company AB Industrivarden (INDU-A.SK), netting the bank a 750 million Swedish kronor ($89 million) capital gain.

Handelsbanken's stake in Industrivarden was worth 4.73 billion kronor based on Wednesday's closing price and the sale will boost third-quarter earnings, it said.

Handelsbanken has sold its 29.4 million A-shares in AB Industrivarden, corresponding to 6.8% of the share capital and 10.3% of the voting rights, at 153.25 kronor a share, it said. The shares were acquired by institutional investors.

"As a result of the transaction, Handelsbanken's risk exposure amount will decrease and the expected positive impact on Handelsbanken's common equity tier 1 ratio is estimated at approximately 0.6 percentage points," the bank said in a statement.

Industrivarden was formed in 1944 to manage shareholdings of Handelsbanken that the bank had acquired following the market crash in the 1930s. The investment firm itself holds a 10% stake in Handelsbanken as well as large stakes in some of Sweden's biggest companies, including Volvo AB and Ericsson.

-Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com; Twitter: @domchopping @WSJNordics

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 25, 2016 03:07 ET (07:07 GMT)

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