GERMANY/SWEDEN: MAN/Scania pact within four weeks
Volkswagen CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder is looking for an agreement on a merger of MAN, Scania and Volkswagen’s Brazilian truck operations within four weeks.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
He told analysts in a telephone conference call on Monday that the three parties will enter into talks and that MAN will withdraw its EUR9.6bn offer to take over Scania, which was viewed as hostile.
Volkswagen is the largest shareholder in Scania and recently acquired 15.06% of MAN. The second largest Scania shareholder, Investor, has said it is willing to accept the talks, as proposed by Volkswagen, according to dpa-AFX.
In a presentation that is now posted on Volkswagen’s investor relations website, Pischetsrieder said that Volkswagen prefers an approach that is not perceived by any party to be hostile. He said that industrial logic suggests that there are significant synergies between MAN and Scania and that Volkswagen will not accept a solution, which sacrifices potential synergies.
Pischetsrieder said that there are tangible synergies available between MAN and Scania in respect of development expenditure, capital expenditure, scale effects, sales organisation, service organisation, leasing and fleet management.
Integrating Volkswagen’s Brazilian truck operations in the merger is described by Pischetsrieder as a potential further step, which would offer MAN and Scania the opportunity to expand into emerging markets.
Pischetsrieder also suggested that additional sales and revenue for Volkswagen could be realised from sales and service co-operation between light trucks and MAN and Scania. A full fleet and one-stop service could be made available for customers, and Volkswagen Financial Services could provide financing as well as fleet management for MAN and Scania. Volkswagen’s European light truck operations have not previously been considered part of the merger equation.
