July 9th, 2011 
admin Wolfsburg, Germany (AHN) – Volkswagen on Monday postponed its appointment of executives to truckmaker MAN’s supervisory board following advise from the European Union.
The Wolfsburg-based company said it is in “constructive discussions” with the EU Commission after the panel said the appointments should be made after anti-trust clearance of the merger with MAN.
VW held off nominating chief executive Martin Winterkorn, chief financial officer Hans Dieter Poetsch, and the automaker’s chief for commercial vehicles, Jochem Heizmann, to MAN’s supervisory board.
Instead, the company named executives Ulf Berkenhagen and Thomas Kremer, who are current members of the board, consistent with VW’s 29.9 percent share in MAN. A third executive, Matthias Bruse, was also appointed as placeholder.
VW said it will “continue to prepare the merger control application in close cooperation with the authority.” The company, which originally planned its mandatory offer to MAN to be completed by June 29, added that it is “confident [it will] be able to submit the formal application in the coming weeks.”
MAN chief executive Georg Pachta-Reyhofen said the same day during his company’s annual general meeting in Munich that the board “remains convinced that closer cooperation between MAN, Scania and Volkswagen will still enable substantial synergies in purchasing, development and production to be leveraged.”
VW made a mandatory offer to MAN shareholders last month as required under German law, following its decision to raise its stake of ordinary shares of MAN from 29.9 percent to 30.47 percent, or past the 30 percent threshold.
VW offered 95 euros (US$136.73) for each ordinary share and about 60 euros for each preference share, both bids lower than the closing price the week before the mandatory offer was made.
Europe’s largest car manufacturer, VW wants to merge MAN with its heavy trucks unit and with Swedish truck manufacturer Scania to establish the biggest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the continent.
The company, which owns Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini, and is in the process of acquiring Porsche, holds a 71.8 percent stake in Scania.
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