Scania shareholder opposition to VW offer 'dwindles'
Scania shareholders opposed to the takeover offer from German Volkswagen are dwindling, according to Dagens Industri.
The Swedish business daily reported, without citing specific sources, that Volkswagen is expected to release its official offer for the Swedish truck maker on 14 March, and it now seems more likely that the German auto giant will succeed in its plans to take over the remaining shares in Scania.
The paper reported that a shareholder group of institutional shareholders called Friends of Scania (Scanias Vanner) had 12%-13% of the shares in Scania when it tried to reinstate Scania’s election committee last year. But an unnamed source close to the group told the paper that shareholders within the group opposed to Volkswagen’s offer now represent only 7% of the shares.
The paper wrote that Volkswagen needs at least 90% approval in order to gain all of the Scania shares via compulsory redemption and then de-list the company from the Stockholm stock exchange. The item noted that it is uncertain whether the opposing shareholders will manage to reach the 10% needed to block the offer.
The paper wrote that Swedish institutions such as Swedbank Robur, Skandia Liv, AMF and Alecta are members of Friends of Scania.
Source Dagens Industri