Defense firm BAE offloads half of its Saab stake to the powerful Swedish industrial holding firm Investor.

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Investor AB, the publicly traded industrial holding firm controlled by the influential Wallenberg family, said Friday it would double its stake in Swedish defense company Saab, maker of the Gripen fighter jet.

British defense firm BAE Systems has agreed to sell half its Saab investment, or 10.2 percent, to Investor at a price of 1,066 million kronor ($148 million). It also plans to offload the rest of its holding.

“Through the transaction, we have clarified the ownership structure in Saab AB", Investor’s chief executive officer Börje Ekholm said in a statement.

"BAE Systems has been a good partner for Saab AB, but over time there has been less alignment of interests and the emergence of some overlapping businesses, while Saab AB has built a strong internal export capability”.

Prior to the transaction, Investor owns 19.8 percent of the capital and 38.0 percent of the votes.

Saab is one of the three contesters in a multi-billion-dollar tender to supply Brazil’s air force with modern jet fighters. Brazil will likely designate the winner by the end of this month.

Investor AB has stakes in nearly all of Sweden's major companies. Among Investor's main holdings are Swiss-Swedish engineering group ABB, Swedish bank SEB, white goods maker Electrolux and the world leader in telecoms networks, Ericsson.