Hexagon CEO says conscience clear over Norwegian insider trading probe

[November 07, 2016]  By Mia Shanley and Johannes Hellstrom

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Ola Rollen, chief executive of Swedish technology firm Hexagon, denied wrongdoing on Monday and said his conscience was clear after spending more than a week in custody over Norwegian insider trading allegations.

Rollen, who turned Hexagon into a leading measurement technology company, was detained in Sweden on Oct. 26 and taken to Norway at the request of authorities there on suspicion of insider trading in connection with an investment last year in Norwegian company Next Biometrics ASA .

The investment was made by the Rollen family's private investment firm and did not involve Hexagon.

Rollen, who has not been charged, was released on Friday after spending more than a week in custody.

Returning to work as CEO on Monday, he said he had every intention of continuing to lead Hexagon "with full force".

Speaking publicly about the allegations for the first time, Rollen said he was "truly saddened by the damage this whole situation has caused for Hexagon, its shareholders, (Rollen's investment firm) Greenbridge Partners and my family."

"But my conscience is clear. I am confident that I have done nothing illegal and I know that this matter will be cleared up," he said on a call with journalists and analysts from London, where he lives.

Asked if he regretted how things had turned out, he said: "Of course I do. It's not fun to be held captive for 10 days and of course I regret this."

"Whilst I am of the firm opinion that there are no grounds for the current allegations against me, I do understand why the Norwegian Economic Crime Authority reacted to the transactions and hence the need to investigate," he said.

INVESTIGATION GOES ON

Hexagon shares rose 1.6 percent on Monday as Rollen returned to work. It has emerged that he was under arrest when he presented Hexagon's third-quarter results in a conference call with analysts on Oct. 28.

Norway's public prosecutor has said the investigation will continue.

The allegations concern an investment made in Next Biometrics in October last year by Iskossala Ltd, which bought shares on behalf of Greenbridge Partners Ltd, an investment firm founded by Rollen and Hexagon chairman Melker Schorling.

A first purchase of 284,341 shares was made on Oct. 6 and 7, 2015. A couple of days later, on Oct. 8, Iskossala, the Rollen family's private investment firm, bought another 333,333 shares and also subscribed to a rights issue for 2,000,000 more shares, according to Hexagon.
 

Shares in fingerprint sensor maker Next Biometrics surged about 85 percent the day the Oct. 8 investment was announced.

All of the shares were transferred from Iskossala to Greenbridge in January this year when the latter became fully operational.

Rollen's lawyer said on the call that Norway's case lacked merit and that Rollen did not have insider information when the investment in Next Biometrics was made.

Rollen, a Swedish national, turned Hexagon, a sprawling conglomerate with businesses ranging from tuna fish imports to vehicle hydraulics, into one of Sweden's most valuable companies with a market capitalization of around 108 billion Swedish crowns ($12 billion).

Since Rollen took over as CEO of Hexagon in 2000, the company has acquired more than 100 firms and shed virtually all its original business.

(Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom and Mia Shanley; Editing by Adrian Croft)

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