VW takes control of Scania

Scania has become part of the Volkswagen family in a €6.7bn deal. The German automotive giant (which already owned the majority of Scania shares) increased its shareholding to 90.5 percent following the acceptance of an Skr 200 offer by most of the minority shareholders in the Swedish truck, bus and engine maker.

Swedish law allows VW to delist Scania now that it owns over 90 per cent of the shares.

Scania now joins MAN as a fully-controlled subsidiary of VW AG, allowing greater sharing of resources and common sourcing of materials and components between the Swedish and German truck and bus makers.

There had been concern in Sweden that a takeover by VW (which has been the majority shareholder since 2000) might lead to a loss of local jobs and expertise. VW pointed to the way it has preserved the identity and local manufacturing capacity of the 12 brands in its portfolio, which ranges from SEAT cars to Ducati motorcycles, to help allay these fears.

Scania president and CEO Martin Lundstedt said: “Following the clarification of the ownership structure, Scania and its management team welcomes the opportunity to accelerate our cooperation projects with Volkswagen and MAN without restrictions and thereby create a successful, global commercial vehicle alliance with strong identities for each brand.”

“With the new opportunities to use the common resources and competencies in the Volkswagen Group, our ability to deliver profitable and sustainable solutions to our customers will be improved further. This will also support our growth strategy up to 2020.

“At Scania we will continue to develop our position as a centre of excellence for commercial vehicles, services and solutions going forward.

“I am also convinced that all of our employees will benefit from becoming full members of the Volkswagen family.”