German auto and truck maker Volkswagen AG has taken control of Swedish truck maker Scania AB, buying the Wallenberg family’s stake in Scania for about $4.4 billion, Bloomberg reported Monday.
The move could clear the way for a merger with German truck maker MAN AG that would create the European market leader for heavy-duty trucks, Bloomberg said.
Volkswagen purchased of the shares for 200 Swedish kronor — about $32.50 — each, it said in a statement. VW It now has 68.6% of voting rights, compared with 38% previously, Bloomberg reported.
The purchase is likely to end a year and a half of wrangling over a three-way merger between MAN — whose largest owner is also Volkswagen — Scania and VW’s own truck unit, Bloomberg said.
The combined company would pass Daimler AG and Volvo AB to become Europe’s biggest truck maker, with about $50 billion in annual revenue, Bloomberg said.
Volkswagen owns 37.7% of Scania stock following the purchase, up from 20.9%, but its voting rights are higher because it holds mostly A shares of stock, which have 10 times the votes of the more widely traded B shares, Bloomberg said.
