Can Volkswagen Get Needed Scania Shares Second Time Around?

After not getting the shares they needed to own over 90% of Scania, Volkswagen extended the deadline, and are confident that they will get the shares needed this time around--but will they?

In February, Volkswagen announced a public offer to purchase all shares of Scania at a cash price of SEK 200. The offer was valid until April 25. But, with some minority holdouts, the terms were not met, with Volkswagen insisting that they become owner of more than 90% of all shares in the company. But, Volkswagen has made an extension on the time.

Volkswagen is giving remaining shareholders of Scania more time to accept the offer. Now, the acceptance period has been extended until May 16 at 5 p.m. (CET). Volkswagen says the price on the share offer is firm, and will not be increased. After acceptance of more than 90% of all shares in Scania, assuming all other completion conditions continue to be fulfilled, Volkswagen will declare the offer unconditional and will complete. Hans Dieter Pötsch, Chief Financial Officer of Volkswagen, remains confident that the offer will be completed.

We are pleased that the broad majority of Scania’s minority shareholders have accepted our very attractive offer. This already takes us a major step forward towards our target of becoming the owner of more than 90 percent of all shares in Scania. On this basis, we are confident that during the extended acceptance period we will meet the necessary acceptance level for this transaction. This would be a milestone in the process of completing our integrated commercial vehicles group, which will be for the benefit of all parties involved.

Prior to announcement of the offer, Volkswagen held or otherwise controlled approximately 62.64% of the shares and 89.18% of the voting rights in Scania. At the end of the acceptance period on April 25, the offer had been accepted by shareholders representing in total 204,939,592 shares in Scania, comprising 9,622,837 A shares and 195,316,755 B shares, corresponding to 25.62% of the shares and 6.63% of the voting rights in Scania.

Provided that the conditions for completion of the offer have been fulfilled after the extended acceptance period, settlement for shares tendered in the offer during the original acceptance period or the extension of the acceptance period is expected to take place not later than on or around May 27. Settlement will, with regard to shares tendered, take place before that date if the acceptance level condition is fulfilled and Volkswagen completes the offer earlier.

In mid-April, Stockholm-based Aktiespararna said yes to the offer from Volkswagen for its bid for Scania, recommending members accept the cash offer for 200 kronor per Scania share. However, Carl Rosen, CEO of the Shareholder’s Association said the recommendation was made with mixed feelings, and suggested that accepting the offer was just the better of two bad options: accepting or rejecting; some minority shareholders chose the latter.

Image: Scania via Facebook