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Volkswagen takeover of Scania stalls

 

The latest offer from Volkswagen for the remaining shares in the Swedish truck maker, Scania, has been rejected by a number of the smaller shareholder groups, frustrating the German automotive giant in its attempt to take complete control of the company.

 

event 09 of the 2013 Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series

 

Last month Volkswagen announced an $11.8 billion offer for the remaining shares in Scania. The car maker already owns 62.6 per cent of the Swedish company but needs to get this figure to 90 per cent, when Swedish law triggers a requirement for all of the shares to be sold to the controlling entity.

 

The latest offer was set at a price aimed to entice the shareholders to part with enough shares to get VW over the 90 per cent line. Set at 36 per cent more than the Scania share price on the day of the bid, VW has indicated this price is their final offer and some institutions involved have indicated their willingness to sell.

 

However, a number of institutional investors who hold varying amounts of shares have announced their reluctance to sell, among them Alecta, AFA Foersaekring, AMF, Skandia and one of the former major shareholders, Investor AB. The reason given is the price is too low for the company, based in Sodertalje, just outside Stockholm.

 

Analysts are quoted by Bloomberg as suggesting the VW bid is unlikely to make the 90 per cent mark. This is reckoned to lessen the ability of VW to further integrate the Scania business with MAN and its truck manufacturing business, based in Munich.

 

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Diesel News recently interviewed the CEO of MAN, Anders Nielsen, while he was in Australia and asked him about the possibility of increased co-operation between the two truck makers, he was unwilling to comment about the current uncertain situation, beyond pointing out the possible savings on increased integration. VW have stated their goal is to achieve $1.14 billion in savings with deeper co-operation between the brands.

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