Swedish investment company Investor AB has invested as much as SEK 500 million (US$60 million) in Swedish based portal company Spray AB.
Investor AB, which is controlled by the Wallenberg-group, will be a minority stake holder of Spray AB. Investor will determine the final amount of the investment based on need and timing.
The financing is expected to spur the pace of international investments in Spray, many of which were made earlier this year.
Spray.se is known as a portal, content provider and as a free Internet access supplier. Spray last week acquired the Norwegian online magazine Nettavisen.
In the next few months, Spray will open local portals in Norway, Germany, France and Italy. Spray plans to quickly localize and implement the original concept at the same reduced cost.
According to Johan Irfelt, president of Spray AB, the company hopes to show a profit in two years’ time. He noted that the development of the Swedish e-commerce and advertising portal was completed ahead of schedule.
Investor as one of the first companies to noticed Spray’s potential, putting its first investment in Spray Ventures in beginning of 1997, said Per Bystedt, CEO of Spray Ventures and chairman of the board of Spray AB.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Spray AB’s parent company Spray Ventures holds a major interest in Razorfish.