Porsche Mandatory Offer for Scania Complete

Porsche's mandatory takeover offer for Scania, made on February 3rd, was completed today, as the German automaker announced it acquired 7.9 percent of the Swedish truck manufacturer. At that time, Scania board advised its shareholders to reject the offer on the basis that the price Porsche was willing to pay for a share was smaller than the actual market value.

Porsche denied any interest in a complete takeover of Scania and said it was a mandatory legal step it was forced to take according to the Swedish takeover laws. Porsche will eventually pay 395 million euros for the 7.9 percent of Scania's shares, detnews.com reported. The new increase in stock options will give the Germans another 2.3 percent of voting rights, on top of the 68.6 percent it already holds.

Porsche officials expect the deal to be completed by February 20th. The company intends to sell the shares on the open market after that date. The German automaker found itself in this predicament after increasing its stake in Volkswagen to more than 50 percent in early January, and thus taking indirect control over VW's assets.

The alleged under market value offer made to Scania shareholders was due to the fact that the German side has no interest in a joint venture with the Swedish, Porsche officials said at the time. The announcement that Porsche will sell the newly acquired shares on the open market is troubling for Scania's board. After trying to reject an offer that was made just because it had to be made, the officials will find themselves at the mercy of any investor that will try to take over the company.