The biggest European automaker, Volkswagen AG (VW), yesterday published an official takeover offer for the heavy truck manufacturer MAN SE, which VW wants to fold into a new truck behemoth.
VW made its “mandatory public offer to all third-party shareholders of MAN SE for their shares” at a price of 95 euros (US$136.80) for ordinary shares and 59.90 euros for preference share.
The offer period began yesterday and runs until June 29, with the deal subject to regulatory approval, “including merger control clearances,” a VW statement said.
“This offer represents a further step by Volkswagen towards the creation of an integrated commercial vehicle group consisting of MAN, Scania and Volkswagen,” it added.
VW said on May 9 that it held more than 30 percent of MAN, meaning that under German law VW was obliged to make an offer for all outstanding shares in the group, which also makes diesel engines and industrial turbines.
MAN is to be combined with the Swedish truck maker Scania AB and Volkswagen’s own commercial vehicle unit to create a major manufacturer of heavy trucks.
VW owns 45.66 percent of the shares in Scania, along with 70.94 percent of the voting rights, while MAN owns another 13.35 percent of Scania’s stock.
However, anti-trust restrictions have posed hurdles for a tie-up of heavy vehicle activities from all three brands VW noted earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Fiat SpA is interested in buying Canada’s 1.7 percent stake in Chrysler Group LLC, Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne said on Monday, while Canada’s finance minister said he would welcome an offer.
“I did have a brief chat with the minister [to say] that we would be quite willing to purchase Canada’s interest in Chrysler,” Marchionne told reporters at a Chrysler plant in Toronto.
However, he noted, “it is totally up to the discretion of the minister and the provincial government.”
At the same event, Canadian Finance Minister James Flaherty said: “We’re certainly open to it. We would have to look at what the proposal is before making a decision, of course.”
Fiat said on Friday it planned to boost its stake in Chrysler to 57 percent by the end of this year as the Italian auto giant moves to consolidate its control of the historic Detroit-based brand.
Fiat announced in a statement its decision to exercise an option to buy an additional 6 percent stake in Chrysler from the US Department of Treasury. It said the price of the purchase would be agreed with the department shortly.
Fiat currently holds a 30 percent stake in Chrysler, but the reimbursement of Chrysler loans to the US and Canadian governments yesterday has opened the way for the Italian company to increase its holding.
Flaherty said he was closely watching “what comes out of the process that is under way now with the United States Treasury.”
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI