Swedish holding company Investor AB is still interested in raising its stake in Swedish truck maker Scania AB from its current 9.1%, chief executive Marcus Wallenberg said on Tuesday, according to Dow Jones.
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“We are interested in talking to those who want to sell but that is up to Volvo to decide,” Wallenberg reportedly said.
Dow Jones noted that rival Swedish truck maker AB Volvo faces a deadline imposed by the EU Commission to sell its 45.5% stake in Scania, the legacy of a failed attempt to take over the truck maker in 2000 when the attempt was blocked by antitrust authorities.
According to Dow Jones, Volvo has said it is weighing its options – it prefers to sell the entire stake to a single buyer, but won’t do so unless such a divestment produces a profit. In the event it can’t sell the stake, it plans to distribute the holding to shareholders, the report added.
Dow Jones noted that Volkswagen is Scania’s second-largest shareholder, with a 19% stake acquired from Investor in March 2000, while Investor is the third-largest.
Dow Jones said investment players consider Scania’s dual-class share structure an obstacle to the sale of Volvo’s stake to a truck maker other than VW, which has said it isn’t interested in increasing its shareholding.
Because it owns a mix of A and B shares, Volvo controls only 30.6% of Scania’s shareholder voting rights. Volkswagen’s voting stake is 34%, while Investor’s is 15.3%, the report added.
