Klarna CEO Secures Billion-Dollar Loan to Gain Full Control Over Holding Company

Klarna's CEO and co-founder, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, has leveraged Klarna shares to gain financial control over the holding company K Friends Partners, which holds shares in Klarna. The loan, amounting to over one billion SEK, was secured from the Swedish bank SEB, as reported by Bloomberg.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski's loan from SEB, totaling $112 million (1.04 billion SEK), was used to buy out the American investor Wellington Management from K Friends Partners, according to sources from TT.

The transaction does not alter Siemiatkowski's voting influence in Klarna but grants him full economic control over K Friends Partners, according to TT's source.

Ownership Valued at 9.3 Billion SEK

The newspaper DI Digital has also reported on these details.

Since the stock market listing, the value of Siemiatkowski's share of Klarna's stock has increased by more than $65 million (over 600 million SEK), with the total holding now valued at over $1 billion (9.3 billion SEK) despite a 6.7% drop in stock price on Thursday, according to Bloomberg.

A spokesperson for Klarna declined to comment on Bloomberg's information for the news agency.

The largest Klarna shareholders after the stock market listing remain the American venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, with a voting power of 22%, according to documents submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The second largest is the Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen's holding company Heartland A/S, with 8.9%.

Lock-Up Agreement for Six Months

Co-founder Victor Jacobsson is reported to have 8.8% of the votes, while Siemiatkowski's share is at 7.4%.

A so-called lock-up agreement prevents former Klarna shareholders from selling shares in Klarna for six months following the stock market listing. However, this rule does not apply to shares distributed through certain types of employee stock options, as reported by Business Insider, citing an internal email.