Scania's minority shareholders wish to collaborate with Investor against Volkswagen
Scania’s minority shareholders wish to collaborate with the Swedish investment company Investor in opposition to German Volkswagen’s offer for the rest of the Swedish truck maker, according to Dagens Industri. The Swedish business daily reported, without citing any specific sources, that the shareholder group Scania’s Friends, which represents 4.6% of the shares in Scania, is planning to approach Investor which owns around 0.4% of the shares in Scania in hopes to collaborate against the offer.
The item noted that Scania’s independent committee announced yesterday that it recommended Scania’s shareholders to reject VW’s offer of SEK 200 (EUR 22.6) per share. The paper reported further that minority shareholders have to stop VW from reaching the 90% needed to succeed in the takeover.
The paper speculated that if VW’s offer ends up being rejected, it is very likely that the German auto giant will raise its offer to SEK 210-220 (EUR 23.7-24.9) per share. The paper wrote that a 10% raise, which corresponds to around SEK 6bn (EUR 678m), is a low figure in comparison to VW’s earlier investments in Scania and its German peer, MAN.
The paper also pointed out, however, that stopping the takeover could be very risky as Scania’s share price will likely drop to SEK 140 (EUR 15.83) if VW withdraws its offer and it seems highly unlikely that an alternative bidder will present itself.
Source Dagens Industri