German tyre maker Continental gets takeover bid

15 July 2008 18:57  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--Germany’s Schaeffler KG, a family-owned industrial group, plans to take over tyre and car components producer Continental AG in a bid valued at €11bn ($17.5bn), it said on Tuesday.

 

Schaeffler was offering the higher of €69.37/share or a price as determined by Germany’s financial supervisory authority under the country’s securities law, it said in a regulatory filing.

 

Continental’s share price rose 11.58%, to €73.42, in Tuesday afternoon trading in Frankfurt.

 

Hanover-based Continental is a large producer of auto parts and tyres as well as an important buyer of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR).

 

Continental said it would review Schaeffler's offer and issue a statement in due course.

 

If completed, the deal would mark one of the biggest takeovers in the rapidly consolidating auto supply sector and position Schaeffler, which also makes auto parts, as one of the industry's largest suppliers, German analysts said.

 

Continental, which took over Siemens’ car components unit last year, had been squeezed by high raw material costs and declining demand, they added.

 

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($1 = €0.63)

By: Stefan Baumgarten
+1 713 525 2653

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