VW gives Scania/MAN deal deadline (FT)

Scania and MAN were given four weeks to come up with a friendly deal before Volkswagen, the largest shareholder in both truckmakers, would support a hostile takeover, the German carmaker said on Monday.

Bernd Pischetsrieder, VW chief executive, said a friendly deal made sense and executives at Sweden’s Scania and Germany’s MAN should discuss how best to realise the benefits. He left open whether the structure should be MAN buying Scania or the other way round.

But in a conference call with financial analysts he warned that four weeks was a maximum for them to come up with a friendly deal.

“If those discussion teams in four weeks don’t produce added value in terms of creating synergies in a business concept which we think is in line with the shareholders’ interest there is no other option left but to accept that the only way to proceed is hostile,” he said.

“We will then have to discuss with the two shareholder groups how this will then happen.”

Mr Pischetsrieder was speaking shortly after MAN said it could withdraw its hostile €9.6bn ($12.08bn) offer for Scania – already rejected by Scania and VW – and would seek friendly talks.

VW last week bought 15 per cent of MAN, adding to its 34 per cent voting stake in Scania.

Mr Pischetsrieder said he wanted to inject VW’s Brazilian heavy truck business into the new company, as well as co-operating in light trucks and offering VW financial services to Scania and Man customers.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006