Volkswagen AG, the largest shareholder in truck makers MAN AG and Scania AB said in an interview that it would prefer to see a merger between the two companies as it again rejected the German company's hostile bid for its Swedish rival.
The German automaker's supervisory board further stated that it would rather see a friendly tie-up between the German and Swedish companies than have them locked in bitter takeover battle. According to Scania spokeswoman Cecilia Edstrom, Volkswagen's rejection comes close to killing the bid but also added that "The way it looks now, it is (dead)."
She also said that it was rather too early to comment on the possibilities of a friendly merger between Scania and MAN. "If a concrete proposal ends up on our table we'll have to look at it, but right now there are no such discussions going on between our two companies," she said.
Scania together with its major shareholder investor AB have continually rejected MAN's 10.3 billion EURO or $13.4 billion USD bid by saying that it undervalues the company. The offer of MAN is set to expire on January 31. If ever the deal push through it would increase Europe's biggest truck maker's market share and would help it to become the third-largest truck maker worldwide.
It should be noted that last year Volkswagen's supervisory board said that it would back an amicable provided that MAN will secure at least 17.3% of Scania's capital and 56% of its voting rights. MAN already owns 11.6% of the capital and 14.5% of Scania's voting rights. On the other hand, Volkswagen's shares were up 0.3% close at 82.84 EURO or $107.56 USD in Frankfurt. MAN's shares rose to 2.2% to close at 72.64 EURO. The shares of Scania were down by 3.5% to close at 474Kronor or 51.94 EURO or $67.34 USD in Stockholm trading.
In other news, Proton Holdings Bhd has said that it cannot confirm reports of a share deal with Volkswagen AG. As an answer to a query from Bursa Malaysia, Proton said that "it is not aware and neither have we been notified of any transaction in relation to the shares of the company." And further added, 'The company will make the necessary announcement at the appropriate time."
The Malaysian government's arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd controls 43 pct of Proton. The news of a possible partnership between Volkswagen and Proton has caused Proton's share to rise more than 13 pct.
Volkswagen the company
Volkswagen Group is a German automobile manufacturer of various types of vehicles including bus. It is also one of the largest automotive companies worldwide selling quality auto parts like . Its core market is the European Union and its major subsidiaries includes Audi, Bentley, Soda, Lamborghini, SEAT and the brand Volkswagen itself. Volkswagen's second largest market is China where it subsidiary Volkswagen Group China is its largest foreign automaker.
It was in the year 1934 when Ferdinand Porsche was officially tasked to build a small and inexpensive car by Adolph Hitler. He then came up with his masterpiece, a beetle-shaped sedan that was called Volkswagen or people's car in German. The production of the Beetle was delayed due to the war but it was during the 50s that the car became popular and was known as Volkswagen Beetle and later earning the title best selling car of all time.
