FRANKFURT (AFX) - MAN AG chief executive Hakan Samuelsson would head a merged truck company combining MAN, Scania AB and Volkswagen AG's Brazilian operations if MAN succeeds in its bid for Swedish rival Scania, reported Focus magazine citing unnamed sources.
According to the magazine, Samuelsson has reached an agreement with VW chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder and its supervisory board head Ferdinand Piech in which the future structure of the truck company has been largely hammered out. The plan includes Samuelsson's leadership over the merged truck giant.
MAN would take control of operations at VW's Brazilian-based truck unit which would be combined with MAN's own operations and those at Scania, the magazine said.
MAN would neither be divided up and sold off nor would the company's headquarters be moved from Munich, the magazine added.
If Scania does not agree with the plan, MAN will pursue a hostile takeover, the report continued.
MAN launched a takeover bid for Scania two weeks ago offering 475 skr per share for Scania A and B shares.
VW, which has a 34 pct stake in Scania and 15.1 pct holding in MAN, has publicly signalled its willingness to support the takeover, should MAN be able to secure at least a 71 pct stake.
Currently, MAN and VW together control around 48 pct of the voting rights in Scania. Tyler.Sitte@afxnews.com ts/jlw/jlw COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2006. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited