Volkswagen Offers to Buy Out MAN to Push Truck Integration

Volkswagen AG will offer to buy out the rest of MAN SE’s shareholders to take full control of the German truck maker, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.

VW, which already holds just over 75% of MAN’s voting rights, will seek a domination agreement as it begin talks with MAN’s board, VW said in a statement. The remaining stake is worth about $4.2 billion, based on Wednesday’s closing price.

Volkswagen, Wolfsburg, Germany, is pushing for deeper integration among MAN, its own commercial-vehicles unit and Swedish truck maker Scania AB, which it also controls, Bloomberg reported.

VW is required to look at the average price of the shares in the last three months — and the value of the stock based on an independent evaluation of the company — and offer MAN shareholders the higher of the two figures, said Christine Ritz, head of VW’s investor relations.

MAN owners who do not accept the deal will have the right to keep their shares and receive a dividend instead, Ritz told Bloomberg.