MAN will increase its offer to take over Scania, according to Swedish press reports.Scania shares rose on Thursday amid the speculation.
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Meanwhile MAN shares have been falling. One analyst cut MAN stock to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, saying that the fear is that VW will interfere unreasonably in the process of bringing MAN and Scania together. This would be more to VW’s advantage than to MAN’s.
Volkswagen announced yesterday that it had acquired over 15% of stock in MAN, which it is using to secure its strategic position in the global truck industry.
Financial Times Deutschland reported that Scania boss Leif Östling has been heard saying that an offer of over SEK500 per share would be acceptable. MAN’s previous offer valued shares at SEK459. Major shareholder Volkswagen has, however, said that it is not a question of price. MAN’s offer is to buy out Volkswagen as a shareholder of Scania. Volkswagen’s key requirement is to be a part of any merger and become a major player in the global truck market.
Scania B shares (without voting rights) are currently trading at around SEK475.
