CEO Oliver Blume is planning to sell a further 15 percent of the Scania and MAN holding company in the first half of the year, "Manager Magazin" reported on Wednesday, citing people involved. The Wolfsburg-based car manufacturer is hoping for proceeds of around two billion euros. Of course, the price has to be right and there is still no final decision. "But the mood at the top of the Group is clearly in favor of the reduction," the business magazine quoted another participant as saying.
A Traton spokesperson said that the company could not comment on Volkswagen's plans, but that investors keep saying that the low free float is a hindrance for them. Volkswagen did not wish to comment on the report. CEO Blume had announced in May that the Group intended to reduce its stake in Traton to 75 percent plus one share in the medium term.
Volkswagen floated Traton on the stock exchange five and a half years ago, but only sold ten percent of the shares at that time - less than originally planned. According to LSEG data, 89.7 percent are still held by the parent company. The share price is suffering from the low free float. In total, Traton is worth just under 14 billion euros on the stock exchange. Traton CEO Christian Levin has advocated the sale of further shares, and Gunnar Kilian, who is responsible for the division on the Group's Executive Board, is also in favor of this, according to the report. In spring 2024, an initial attempt to monetize a block of shares failed because VW's share price was too low.
(Report by Alexander Hübner; with the assistance of Christina Amann; edited by Ralf Banser. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).