Swedish PTT Telia and FöreningsSparbanken (Swedbank) are to form a new company to develop B2B marketplaces, with an initial focus on public sector purchasing.
The company will be based on Telia’s established technical platform and leverage Swedbank's financial expertise and strong ties to the municipal sector. From the start, the new company will have around 30 customers in Sweden.
The joint venture partners will initially own 50 percent each of the new company, but are planning to broaden its ownership base and eventually take the company public.
The new company is taking over a pre-existing operation that Telia started in 1997. The business has already signed agreements with 18 municipalities and six county councils to introduce electronic commerce. Customers include the cities of Stockholm and Malmö. Among current customers outside the municipal sector are the Swedish National Road Administration and Telia.
From the start, the new company’s existing customer base will have approximately SEK 25 billion a year in purchasing power. The president of the new company will be Stefan Bergelind from Telia.
The partners value the initial Swedish market at an estimated SEK250 billion a year. The company also plans to offer its services elsewhere in the Nordic and Baltic regions. In Norway, Denmark and Finland, public sector purchasing is estimated at a total of SEK400 billion a year.
Birgitta Johansson-Hedberg, Swedbank CEO says the new venture provides a good platform for e-commerce business development in neighbouring countries