Porsche yesterday made a token offer for Scania, the Swedish truckmaker, but reaffirmed it did not intend to succeed with this mandatory bid.

The German sports carmaker sparked this general offer after it increased its stake in Volkswagen to 50.76 per cent two weeks ago. Europe’s largest carmaker, which is now controlled by Porsche, owns 69 per cent of Scania.

Porsche offered the minimum price of SKr68.52 per A share and SKr67.10 per B share. Both offers are below the stock’s Friday close and yesterday’s trading price.

Porsche yesterday reiterated it “did not have a strategic interest in buying Scania shares”. Scania said its board of executives would give a recommendation on the share offer on February 3, one week before Porsche’s bid will expire.

VW not only owns a majority in Scania but also a controlling stake of 30 per cent in its German rival, MAN. Industry executives expect the latter and Scania to merge, probably this year. Following MAN’s sale of VW’s truck assets, it is still unclear what the complicated structure would look like

The article: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/de9ac2a2-e692-11dd-8e4f-0000779fd2ac.html

Initial story: Porsche launches mandatory offer for Scania

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