What is happening
Hexagon's annual general meeting resolved on 24 April 2026 to distribute all shares in its wholly owned subsidiary Octave Intelligence plc to Hexagon shareholders. Octave is not arriving through a traditional IPO where new investors subscribe for stock. Hexagon describes it as a pro rata distribution to existing Hexagon shareholders.
Octave contains businesses that previously sat inside Hexagon, including Asset Lifecycle Intelligence, Safety, Infrastructure and Geospatial, ETQ, and Bricsys. After the distribution, Hexagon says Octave will be a separate public company and Hexagon will have no continuing ownership interest in it.
The May calendar
The calendar is the article. Hexagon's current timetable says:
- 20 May 2026: last day of trading in Hexagon B including the right to receive Octave shares or SDRs.
- 21 May 2026: first day of trading in Hexagon B excluding that right.
- 22 May 2026: record date for the distribution.
- 25 May 2026: expected first day of trading in Octave SDRs on Nasdaq Stockholm.
- 26 May 2026: expected delivery of Octave SDRs.
- 28 May 2026: expected first regular-way trading day for Octave B ordinary shares on Nasdaq New York.
The 20 May and 21 May split is the part that can surprise people watching their bank app. The Hexagon share can trade without the Octave distribution right before the Octave SDRs have actually shown up and started trading in Stockholm.
What shareholders receive
Hexagon's distribution ratio is one Octave share for every ten Hexagon shares of the same class. For Hexagon B holders, the practical Swedish-market version is an Octave class B ordinary share represented through a Swedish depository receipt, or SDR.
Each Octave SDR represents one underlying Octave class B ordinary share. Hexagon says the SDRs are denominated in SEK and trade on Nasdaq Stockholm, which lets Swedish holders use the settlement infrastructure they already know instead of immediately dealing with a U.S.-listed ordinary share.
Why SDRs matter
An SDR is not a bonus coupon or a separate fund. It is a security that represents an underlying foreign ordinary share. In this case, SEB is the depositary behind the Swedish depository receipts, and Octave B ordinary shares are expected to trade in New York under OCTV.
Hexagon says Octave SDR holders may convert SDRs into Octave class B ordinary shares through a bank, broker, or nominee. Conversion is free for the first six months from and including the first day of SDR trading, after which a bank, broker, or other nominee may charge a fee.
That does not make conversion automatically useful for every holder. It does mean the wrapper matters: Swedish listing, U.S. listing, currency, settlement route, nominee instructions, and possible future SDR-program changes are part of the ownership details.
The price-move trap
Spin-offs create a neat-looking story: one company becomes two. The market arithmetic is less neat in the first days. A Hexagon share can adjust when it trades without the Octave right, Octave SDRs can begin with their own supply and demand, and different investor bases may want different pieces.
That is why the better first read is the timetable, ratio, ticker, listing venue, and what Octave actually contains. A spin-off can be interesting without being free money, and a first-week price chart can look dramatic while the mechanics are still settling.
What to watch next
The cleanest next signal is whether the timetable proceeds as expected: 20 May cum-rights trading, 22 May record date, 25 May Stockholm SDR trading, and 26 May delivery. After that, the interesting questions move from distribution mechanics to business evidence: Octave's own reporting, liquidity in Stockholm versus New York, and how Hexagon trades once the separated business is no longer inside it.
For Swedish investors, the practical distinction is simple enough: this is a shareholder event before it is a stock-picking argument. The dates decide who receives what. The later reports decide whether either listed company deserves the story investors attach to it.
Source frame: distribution ratio, cum-rights/ex-rights dates, record date, expected SDR trading and delivery dates, ticker, ISIN, conversion timing, and prospectus/Form 10 context from Hexagon's distribution and listing press release; AGM decision, expected timetable, one-for-ten distribution table, Octave business perimeter, SDR explanation, conversion FAQ, reporting obligations, and non-IPO framing from Hexagon's Octave separation page. Accessed 16 May 2026. This is educational market context, not personalized investment, tax, or legal advice.