VW Acquires Majority Stake in Truckmaker MAN

Volkswagen lifted its voting stake on MAN SE from 60% to 73%, pushing ahead with its plan to forge a European truck alliance.

Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn told reporters last month that “all options are open to us when it comes to refining the structure of an integrated commercial vehicles group.”

VW now holds 71.08% of total share capital from 53.71%. To save at least 200 million euros ($263.49 million) annually in procurement, production and research and development, VW also plans to integrate MAN more closely with Swedish rival Scania, which the German company controls, trying to create a three-way linkup that would leapfrog Daimler and Volvo as Europe’s largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks. VW said it holds 71.8% of Scania’s votes and 49.3% of the total capital in the Swedish truckmaker.

“Volkswagen is more than pleased with the result,” Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said in a statement on Monday. “As a result, our objective of realizing substantial synergies between MAN, Scania and Volkswagen in the interest of all shareholders, employees and customers is moving closer.”

According to previous statements, VW is aiming for initial cost synergies of at least EUR200 million a year and significantly higher savings in the long run.