VW’s trucks arm Traton sweetens Navistar offer to $43 per share

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s trucks arm Traton on Thursday increased its takeover offer for U.S. peer Navistar to $43.00 per Navistar share, up from $35 per share.

Volkswagen made an initial takeover offer in January in a bid to raise its stake beyond an initial 16.6% stake it acquired in 2016. Traton and Navistar have been collaborating on purchasing and electric vehicle technology.

But Traton struggled to win over Navistar’s largest shareholder, financier Carl Icahn, whose fund controls 16.9% of Navistar’s shares. Icahn and two other activist funds, Mark Rachesky’s MHR Fund Management and Gabelli Funds, together own 40% of Navistar’s shares, according to Refinitiv data.

Volkswagen on Thursday said it will provide funds for the financing of Traton’s increased offer with the aim of Traton becoming the sole owner of Navistar.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor, editing by Emma Thomasson and Madeline Chambers)