MAN has been increasing its voting rights in Scania, in what appears to be a renewal of its attempts to mount a hostile takeover of Scania.
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Meanwhile, a report in a German business magazine claims that Scania CEO Leif Ostling will step down at the company’s annual general meeting in May, because he is struggling to prevent a tie-up with MAN and Volkswagen.
Ostling’s contract runs to May 2009 but, according to one report, he is considering leaving to become chairman of the board at Swedish bearing manufacturer, SKF.
MAN shares have fallen because of the risk that MAN may make a higher offer for Scania. Stock market analysts are concerned that any takeover attempt would have to overcome resistance from Scania management and the other major shareholder, the Wallenberg family. If Ostling were to leave, some of the resistance might be removed.
Volkswagen shares have been rising on the news. Volkswagen has been trying to engineer a friendly alliance of the two truck manufacturers with its own heavy truck manufacturing operations in South America.
